Lonely Heart
by CartaEscarlate
Summary: Enjolras is the cold-blood leader of the Friends of the ABC, and he cares only for the Revolution and his mistress is France. Although, when he meets a brunette young woman, with strong beliefs like himself, his solitude pierces him like a knife.
1. Lonely Soul

_**Lonely Heart**_

_An Les Misérables Fanfiction_

**Enjolras x OC**

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**Disclaimer: **I do not own_ Les Misérables_, it belongs to Victor Hugo.

Forgive me for some grammatical mistakes; English is not my mother language.

This fanfiction is a cross between the novel and the musical.

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**Chapter One**

_**LONELY SOUL**_

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_Enjolras...was an only son and was rich. He was a charming young man, capable of being intimidating. He was angelically beautiful...A pontifical and warrior nature, strange in a youth. He was officiating and militant; from the immediate point of view, a soldier of democracy; above the movement of the time, a priest of the ideal. He had a deep eye, slightly red lids, thick underlip, readily disdainful, and a high forehead...Like certain young men...who become illustrious in early life, he had an exceedingly youthful look, as fresh as a young girl's, though he had moments of pallor. Already a man, he still seemed a child. His twenty-two years appeared as seventeen; he was serious, he did not seem to know that there was a being on earth called woman. He had one passion only, justice; one thought only, to remove all obstacles...Before anything but the Republic, he chastely dropped his eyes. He was the marble lover of liberty. His speech was roughly inspired and had the tremor of a hymn. He would spread his wings unexpectedly and astonish you by his soaring. Woe to the love affair that should venture to intrude on him! Had any grisette*****...seeing this college boy's face, the body of a page, long fair lashes, blue eyes, that hair flying in the wind, rosy cheeks, pure lips, exquisite teeth, felt a desire to taste all this dawn, and tried her beauty on Enjolras, a surprising and terrible look would have suddenly shown her the great gulf, and taught her not to confuse Beaumarchais's dashing cherubino with this fearsome cherubim of Ezekiel._

**Victor Hugo**_, Les Misérables_, 1862

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**Paris, France**

**January 2nd, 1832**

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After other meeting of the Friends of ABC, only the closest members remained. They've left the back room of Café Musain and went to the wine shop for a drink. Grantaire drank a full glass of wine and stared at the serious Enjolras; the cold-blood leader of the ABC, who never drinks alcohol, because he prefers to remain sober and fully conscious. The blond young man noticed Grantaire' stare but remain severe, without saying a word.

"You are indeed a very lonely person, my friend.", Grantaire nodded.

"What?" Enjolras looked at him with perplexity, but didn't pay much attention because he knew Grantaire was drunk as usual.

"How can you manage to be so… cold all the time? Don't you ever have racing blood on your veins?"

"Grantaire, I'm not in the mode for your drunkard conversations."

"Comrade, mock my words: you need excitement in your life. You can't live only for the homecoming revolution. Why don't you find yourself a fine girl?"

Enjolras' grinned with scorn.

"I do not have time or patience for such things."

"Oi! Combeferre! Come here and enlighten us with your knowledge! You too, Prouvaire! Bring us your poetry and your words of love!" Grantaire called with a huge smile.

"Oh, please…" Enjolras murmured in disapproval.

"What's happening, my dear friends?" Joly asked with curiosity "Why the boredom looks on your face, my wise Enjolras?"

"Our leader over here needs to get his heart cured, good doctor." Grantaire joked.

"Do you want me to exam you, Enjolras?" the medical student asked with concern.

"He needs love to cure his heart." Grantaire laughed. "Love is the cure for his lonely soul."

"I'm afraid medicine can't do anything about it." Joly joined Grantaire' joke.

"Can't you stop talking about my lonely soul? Nobody cares about it. And there are bigger things right now for me and for all of us." Enjolras declared in a severe tone.

"But we do care about your lonely soul, Enjolras." Prouvaire said "Your love for France is an inspiration for us all, but a man has other needs. His heart needs to be fed with love and joy."

"The revolution will bring me joy!"

"Oh, but it will never bring you love, my friend…" Prouvaire said.

"Nor will warm your bed!" Grantaire laughed, drinking another glass of wine.

"Will you kiss France in her lips and whispered into her ear words of passion?" Prouvaire asked. "I believe that's not possible…"

"You all let the wine get to your brains!" Enjolras disdained.

"I'm quite sober." Combeferre declared "But I have to agree with your fellows here. You should enjoy life a bit. We never know which day can be our last."

"I'm not concern about these matters! I'm trying to make a change in this country. To give people what's them for right! My little life does not count at all."

"I find that very depressing…" Grantaire nodded "Your ideals are very poetic but lacks poetry in your life… You should drink more! And find a woman and make love to her every day."

"I agree with Grantaire. Except for the drinking..." Prouvaire said.

"What's happening here?", Marius asked, bringing a bottle of wine.

"Terrific! You brought wine, Marius!" Grantaire smiled "We are having a little chat with our leader here."

"I've noticed." Marius replied "What about?"

"Love! Passion! Delight!" Prouvaire said in a poetic tone.

"Don't tell me you are in love, Enjolras!" Marius laughed.

"Of course not!" Enjolras said in anger "Can you all stop this nonsense? Is this what we'll be discussing in the next reunion? My inexistent love life!? I've already said twice I have no interest in such matters. I only care for the People' Revolution!"

"You've always been an inflexible person about all matters that don't please you, Enjolras." Marius noticed.

"Are you now attacking me?" Enjolras rose from his seat "Your Bonapartist political views have no interest to me."

"I know." Marius said "You made that clear. But Napoleon Bonaparte is the greatest leader France ever had."

"An Imperialist! That's what he was!" Enjolras grinned "We had this discussion too many times and you remain with the same naïve opinion!"

"Do you know what I think?" Grantaire interrupted "You both need a woman! Too many politics are bad for your health! I am right, doctor?"

"Balance in every aspect of life." Joly spoke "That's the key for good health."

"Cheers to that!" Grantaire raised his glass of wine and drank it.

"Stop drowning in alcohol, Grantaire." Enjolras begged. "We need our heads concentrated in the things that matter. Well, it's late. I shall go home, now."

"Hope you found love one day, Enjolras." Prouvaire wished.

"Right… Right…" Enjolras didn't pay any attention to Prouvaire' wish "See you all tomorrow at the same time. Good night everyone."

"Sleep tight!" Grantaire said "Dream with some fine breasts!"

"Oh, please!" Enjolras rolled his eyes and went downstairs.

The air was cold and the streets were empty. Enjolras felt tired and annoyed with those conversations about love and passion and all things he doesn't understand and never had the impulse to discover nor to look for. As he walked home, alone, he couldn't stop feeling revolted with such impertinence from his fellows. He does not need such things to survive! Since his childhood he never has into Art or Nature or women… And now, in his twenties, the only subjects that matter to him were Politics and Laws.

* * *

He entered his small lonely apartment, as lonely as himself. Enjolras sat on his desk and wrote some words for tomorrow's speech at the Café. He wrote words of Revolution and hope in a brighter future for all the people, to encourage his fellow comrades.

He heard some laughs and whispers coming from outside and rose from his chair, looking to the street, where he saw a couple of lovers laughing and kissing each other. The young man looked at them and felt uncomfortable for he never had such experiences. He remembered Grantaire's words.

"Do I ever have racing blood in my veins?" Enjolras asked himself.

The lovers were kissing with passion, against a wall from an old house and Enjolras couldn't stop himself from staring at them: the young man's hand was caressing the young woman's waist while his lips were kissing her neck and finding their way down to her cleavage. In her face was an expression of endless delight and passion.

Enjolras had never seen a woman's face transfigured in that way before and there he was, like a voyeur, witnessing a passionate scene between two young lovers on the street, thought the window of his apartment. And, for the very first time, his solitude pierced him like a knife. He wanted to stop himself from staring at the lovers but he couldn't.

Then, the eyes of the young woman looked above and saw Enjolras staring from the window and, with horror, she warned her young lover to stop for there was someone watching them. Enjolras stepped aside from the window, terrorized for been discovered by the young lovers. His heartbeat was racing and cold sweat falling down his forehead.

"Oh, I'm being an idiot." Enjolras murmured "I don't even know these people… I should focus myself in what matters and not on some drunk couple on the streets! I should be sleeping… It's late and my classes start early."

Enjolras started to undress himself and lay down on the bed. It was a cold night and the loneliness was heavy on his naked chest. He tried to fall asleep but images of a naked woman without a face, caressing him and kissing him, don't left his mind. He tried to focus on his studies and in all the reasons why they were planning the revolution, he thought about poverty and people dying from hunger on the streets.

But it wasn't enough… The imaginary woman in his dreams didn't stop kissing him and her hands were soft and she smell like angels, whispering lovely words into his ear, Enjolras' hands were trailing her body and grabbing her bare breasts, while feeling her heavy breath in his skin, going mad with desire for her body.

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**Historical Facts:**

***_Grisette_**** – **In Victor Hugo's France there were two kinds of women in the Bohemian lifestyle, where the revolutionaries habited: the _lorettes_ and _grisettes_. The _lorettes_ were working-class, poor, women who had occupations such as sewing. The _grisettes_ were a sort of prostitutes, who had an exaggerated physical appearance and lack of an occupation, being supported only by their lovers. Often, these two sorts of women were quite removed from each other, except on some specific occasions, such as masked balls. Other women were housekeepers for the bohemians, or employees of the cafes that they frequented; like Louison, the dish-washer of the Cafe Musain, in _Les Misérables_ novel, who was the only women allowed to enter, from time to time, in the back room, where the Friends of the ABC meetings occur.

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**Hope you enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	2. Lost Until She Was Found

**Chapter Two**

_**LOST UNTIL SHE WAS FOUND**_

* * *

Enjolras left his college once his classes were over. The young man didn't sleep well last night, and his face looked tired and was his eyes were marked by dark rings. He had mad dreams about naked women and love making. He felt ridiculous for having such dreams when he should be focus on the Friends of the ABC activities and finding new people to join the revolution.

It was only afternoon, but Enjolras went his way to the Cafe Musain. When he was passing by _Jardin du Luxembourg_, almost near the Café, he noticed an enormous crowd of women in front of the garden's gates; that he found to be a strange and unusual event and, led by curiosity, went towards the crowd, to discover what was going on. While he drew near, he started listening to a strong female voice giving a speech.

"_Enough is enough! We, women, are tired of receive less payment, or not receiving at all, for the same among of work as men! Why should we earn less than men? We do the same work! It's time for us, women, to raise our voice! We want equal payment! We want dignity in our work! Feel safe and not be afraid of being assault during our work!"_

"Equal rights for women!" the female crowd was screaming.

Enjolras came closer and looked around: the women were responding with the same enthusiasm as the leader. When he looked above, to see who this woman was, Enjolras was marveled: it was a young woman, in her twenties, with long dark hair and fair skin, her delicate face, transfigured in determination, didn't match to her strong voice. The young woman was wearing a midnight blue gown with long, straight, sleeves; without the ornament of a wealthy women's gown but it had not the simplicity of the poor women's either. The fabric was, clearly, expensive and the gown was tight below her chest, and had white lace on the edge of the gown. She was not wearing a hat or any accessory on her head. Enjolras noticed she wasn't wearing a corset, like almost all women were obliged to; he could see the shape of her breasts through the gown.

"We, women, don't want to stay at home and look after our husbands nor having children for the rest of our lives! We want the right to decide our own future! Our future is not cleaning houses nor feeding babies! We are human beings not decoration objects for men's pleasure!"

"We don't want to spend our mornings on church!" one blonde young woman on the crowd screamed.

Enjolras noticed that this young woman was close to the leader because they exchanged smiles. He was perplexed with this strange event: since when women reunited on the streets? He had always thought that the Friends of the ABC were the only revolutionary organization in Paris.

"Yes! We want to study! Education for all women and not only for the rich women! Proper education! We don't want to learn piano nor singing nor embroidery! We want to learn the same subjects as men do! Equal rights for women!"

Enjolras was impressed by the determination and the toughness of this young woman.

"Equal rights for women! Equal rights for women! Equal rights for women!"

While the women were screaming along with the brunette leader, the sound of horses' hoofs started filling the air.

"Arrest them all!" the imperative voice of Inspector Javert demand to the others guards. "Guards, prove to this women what is the proper place for them!"

"Angélique! It's Javert!" the blonde young woman screamed.

The brunette leader jump off from the platform, running to her blonde friend, grabbing her by the arm.

"Come along, Jacques!" the brunette screamed.

The crowd started to dismiss and running away, while being followed by the mounted guards. Led by the impulse of saving them, Enjolras run towards the two young women, who seem not to know where to run to.

"Come with me, _mademoiselles*****!"_ Enjolras interrupted, pulling the brunette young woman by her hand.

The two young women looked at Enjolras with suspicious on their eyes.

"I will do you no harm." Enjolras said. "You can trust me."

"How can we trust you if we don't even know you?" the brunette leader asked, breaking free her arm "How can we tell if you are not an undercover guard?"

"I think you have no choice, really." Enjolras said with a little smile.

"Well, he's right, Angélique." the blonde young man spoke to the brunette. "Oh, come on, let's go! Before the guards catch us!"

The brunette Angélique looked at Enjolras and found the tender expression on his face worth trusting and held his hand and they started running away.

* * *

Enjolras led them to _Place Saint-Michel_, to the Cafe Musain.

Outside the building, they stopped, they were breathing with difficulty from the physical effort. Enjolras, discreetly, observed the brunette, flicking her long and wavy hair back, and he couldn't stop noticing how beautiful she was. Then his eyes went to her loose breasts; he could, perfectly, see their shape and they were waving from her heavy breath. His view was blocked when the young woman dressed a large dark overcoat. Feeling his disrespectful rudeness, Enjolras looked away.

"Thank you so much, _Monsieur_…" the brunette said, smiled at him.

"Enjolras."

"I'm Angélique." she introduced herself "This is Jacqueline."

"_Enchanté_, _Monsieur_.******" Jacqueline smiled "Everyone calls me Jacques."

"Isn't "Jacques" a male name?" Enjolras raised his eyebrow.

"If you take a closer look, everything is a male thing." Angélique said.

Enjolras smiled.

"I apologize if I've offended your political beliefs."

"How polite!" Jacqueline laughed. "Do you feel heroic for rescuing the damsels?"

Enjolras noticed the look on Angélique' eyes; he knew what she was waiting for a stereotypical male answer.

"I have my own political problems with the Law as well." he answered.

"Do you?" Angélique asked with sarcasm.

"Yes. I'm the leader of a Republican organization, the Friends of the ABC. We are preparing a revolution to overthrow the King and give People what belongs to them." Enjolras explained "We usually reunite here, at the Cafe Musain, but we also organize public speeches, like yours."

"I've never heard of the Friends of the ABC!" Jacqueline laughed.

"I have." Angélique declared, staring into Enjolras' eyes "Although, I haven't met anyone of you… Until now…"

They didn't stop looking into each other's eyes.

"Our reunion is about to start." Enjolras said "Do you feel like joining m… us?"

"I'm afraid I can't." Jacqueline said. "It's late and my mother is awaiting me at home."

"What about you, _mademoiselle_ Angélique?"

"I'll go." the brunette replied "I would like to hear the ABC political views on women."

"Good." Enjolras tried not to smile.

"I must go now." Jacqueline said to Angélique "Tomorrow?"

"Yes, at the same hour as today." Angélique answered.

"Bye, then. Take care." Jacqueline smiled and placed her hand upon Angélique' shoulder. "_Merci_, _Monsieur_ Enjolras."

"_Au revoir."_ Angélique smiled as her friend walked away from them.

An awkward silence formed between Enjolras and Angélique. The blonde young man felt ridiculous because, for the first time in his entire life, he felt uncomfortable near the opposite sex and somehow he had the need of pleasing her and was afraid of making a fool out of himself.

"How long have you been… giving speeches?" Enjolras asked to break the silence.

"Not for long." Angélique answered "But this was my first public speech and it didn't end the way I expected…"

"You looked quite comfortable for someone who was giving her first public speech." Enjolras praised "But you'll have to conform to the police intervention."

"The King will never accept the people who stand against him." she said "Not mine, not yours."

"I have a great interest in politics, but I have to say I've never hear of women demanding for equality. Where did you found such ideology?"

"I've always thought that women must have the same rights as men. Two years ago, I read two books from the XVII century by Marie de Gournay; "_The Equality of Men and Women_" and "_The Ladies' Grievance_" and I found a solid base to my beliefs. We, woman, must have the right to choice our own future and not depend on men's views about ourselves."

"I've never met a woman with interest in politics before." Enjolras confessed with bright eyes.

"I'm trying to change that fact." Angélique smiled "Although, I must admit I've never met a revolutionary man before. All the men I've meet were… misogynist bastards. But you are a Republican. What are your views on women? Do you believe we have the same rights as men?"

"Yes, I do." Enjolras confirmed "I believe that everyone is equal and has the right to a popper life, free of misery and hunger. I believe in democracy, the people should vote and not be command by some King that inherited the throne."

"_Monsieur_, you speak with great passion." Angélique praised.

"It's what I live for." Enjolras said.

"So do I… There's nothing more for me to live for."

"Nothing? Not even your man?" Enjolras asked but regretted it immediately "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have asked that…"

"It's fine." Angélique said with a light smile "I don't have one. And even if I had I wouldn't live for him, surely."

"Of course not."

"I don't want to be with a man who looks at me like an object but as his companion." Angélique said. "Don't you agree?"

"I agree with you but I don't have interest on those fields."

"Do you have interest on other fields?" Angélique raised her eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Enjolras didn't understand what she meant.

"Are you a homosexual?" she asked.

"No!" he laughed. "I'm just not interest in romance. I have bigger things in my mind."

"Yes, so do I."

"We are much alike." Enjolras smiled.

"Yes, we are." Angélique whispered "Shouldn't we be going inside?"

"We should, yes, of course." Enjolras nodded "Come with me. I'll show you the Café and present you to my fellow comrades."

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**Translation (French - English) and Historical Facts:**

* **_Mademoiselles_** or **_Mademoiselle_ **- Meaning "_Miss_", or "_Little lady_".

** **_Enchanté, Monsieur! -_** Meaning _"Delighted (to meet you), Sir!" _

**Women's Rights:** Angélique and her fellows are inserted on the concept of Protofeminism; which is a term used to define women's rights movement that anticipated modern Feminist concepts, yet lived in a time when the terms "Feminist" and "Feminism" was unknown, that, is prior to 1872. During the XVIII century, in France and in England, rich women started mounting large scale public demonstrations and petitions for Women's Rights, although dismissed by the authorities of the day. Feminists in XIX century France were on the rise, starting the first Feminist Daily newspaper in France. In the XIX century and early XX century, they were focused on gaining the right of Women's Suffrage (right to vote), the right to be educated, better working conditions and double sexual standards, focus on economical, political and sexual rights; this period was called First-wave Feminism.

* * *

**Hope you are enjoying it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**Thank you for the reading!**


	3. I Don't Know Love

**Chapter Three**

_**I DON'T KNOW LOVE**_

* * *

"I am agog! Is Enjolras coming in with a woman?" Grantaire laughed.

"What!? You're joking, you drunken fool!" Marius couldn't believe it.

"No, I'm not. Look for yourself!"

All the ABC members looked chocked at Enjolras arrival with Angélique. They examined the young woman: observing her notorious beauty. Angélique noticed the looks on their eyes and felt uncomfortable and over-watched.

"Do they look at every woman with those hungry eyes?" Angélique asked to Enjolras.

"Yes, they do." he confirmed with an edge of anger "But they are surprised because you are with me."

"Good evening, Enjolras!" Grantaire grinned, hugged to his bottle of wine.

"Good evening, everyone." Enjolras said "I would like to present you my guest for tonight: Angélique."

All the eyes were on the young woman once again, full of expectations of what news they'll be receiving next. Prouvaire walked towards Angélique and Enjolras, performing a bow and kissing her hand.

"Your name makes justice to you, _mademoiselle_." Prouvaire praised "For you, _mademoiselle_, are quite an angel!"

"Oh! How gallant, _Monsieur!_" Angélique laughed.

"Aw… Prouvaire and his marvelous words of love!" Grantaire said, rising from his chair _"Mademoiselle,_ this fellow here is Jehan Prouvaire; the resident poet and lover of women and children. I'm Grantaire, lover of wine."

"_Enchanté!_" Angélique smiled "Lover of women and children, you say, Prouvaire?"

"The women and children of Paris are one of my greatest concerns and the reason why I've joined the Friends of the ABC." Prouvaire answered and Angélique reattributed with a wide smile on her face.

Enjolras tried not to look enraged but the truth was, inside him, he felt something twitching, a sort of hate towards Prouvaire. Although, the blonde young man couldn't describe exactly what this feeling was, for he had never experienced such emotions. The only thing he knew was that this conversation between Prouvaire and Angélique wasn't pleasing him at all.

"I think we'll get along just fine." Angélique said to Prouvaire "All of you seem to be wondering why I am here and looked surprised when I walked in. Your leader, Enjolras, saved me this afternoon from the Law. I was giving a speech on the public square when Javert and his guards attacked us. They wanted to arrest us."

"You were giving a speech?" Joly asked "What about?"

"Women's Rights." the young woman replied.

"Women's rights…?" Marius asked with an edge of sarcasm on his voice.

"Yes." Enjolras raised his voice "Angélique is a very enthusiastic leader of the Women's Rights movement in Paris. We were debating politics and I invited her to join us for tonight's meeting. She has some interesting points of view that I would like you to listen to."

"Politics… And you were hoping that Enjolras brought the girl here for fun!" Marius whispered to Grantaire. "You should know Enjolras doesn't care about _grisettes."_

"I'm starting losing my hope that someday Enjolras will hear my advices." Grantaire drank a glass full of wine. "Still, this situation it's puzzling to me… Oi! Enjolras! Come over here for a minute!"

"What now, Grantaire?" Enjolras asked without patience "We are about to start."

The blonde young man walked towards Grantaire and sat next to him, taking a deep breath.

"I believe whatever you have to tell me is something important…" Enjolras said without taking his eyes off Angélique that was talking with Prouvaire, Marius and Joly.

"I'm confused, my friend." Grantaire started "The damsel was in distress and you rescue her… That's not very alike you… The usual you would pass by and wouldn't care about the arrest of some girl you don't even know."

"Are you trying to insinuate something?"

"Do you want me to believe that you are suddenly interested in women's rights? And you don't even look at me when I'm speaking to you because you can't take your eyes off your little angel. You fancy her."

"You are drunk as always, Grantaire."

"It's all I am to you, isn't it, Enjolras?" Grantaire's voice was painted in grief "To you, I'm just some stupid drunk young man… You don't care for me, you don't care for my advices…"

"Don't be juvenile." Enjolras said "You are important to me as anybody else in this room."

"No, my friend." Grantaire smiled and drank another glass full of wine "The brunette angel over there is more important to you than anybody else in this room. You can deny it from others and from yourself but I can see your growing passion for her in your eyes!"

"I believe you have drank too much." Enjolras said with seriousness in his voice and then raised from his chair "Everyone! Let's start tonight's meeting, please."

"At last!" Combeferre said "I've prepared some texts for tonight."

"Tonight we'll be discussing women's rights." Enjolras said.

"What about my writings?" Combeferre asked.

Grantaire laughed and Enjolras' fuming stare went his direction.

"We will discuss your writings tomorrow, don't you worry, Combeferre." Enjolras answered "I have some writings as well but since tonight we have among us the Women's Rights movement's leader, we will be discussing this matter. This is a subject of grand interest for Prouvaire and I would like him to participate dynamically in tonight's meeting."

Every other member of the ABC didn't seem pleased with Enjolras sudden interest for women's rights and Angélique noticed the annoyed expression on their faces.

"Your fellows don't seem to be very interested in discussing the topic." Angélique said to Enjolras. "It's better if I should go and leave you all for your meeting."

"No…" Enjolras grabbed her, gently, by the arm but tried to keep an impassive expression on his face "Please stay. They don't seem very amused because it is a strange matter to them. But that's the reason why you are here; to elucidate them about something that concerns every woman in this country."

Angélique stayed and the Friends of the ABC meeting begun.

* * *

The meeting didn't go as Enjolras expected. Angélique and Prouvaire were, frequently, interrupted for one student contradicting their points of view. Enjolras was in the role of moderator of the debate, always trying to calm down everyone in the room, because once in a while they all started screaming at each other.

"Please, people… Can you all calm down?" Enjolras asked.

"This is ridiculous! Votes for women? Not even men have the right to vote!" Feuilly said.

"In time we'll conquer both." Prouvaire declared.

"Of course we will!" Feuilly laughed in sarcasm "What's next? Children voting as well?"

"We are not saying that!" Angélique rose from her seat "In front of the Law, Women and Men should be seemed as equal! Perhaps not in this century, but women will vote someday."

"Angélique, please sit down and lower your voice." Enjolras asked "You too, Feuilly…"

"I find your enthusiasm with a lost cause touching, _mademoiselle_." Feuilly said, throwing his papers on the table.

"I believe that education for both men and women is very important." Combeferre declared. "Women shouldn't be locked in the house and learn only music and sewing with private tutors. They deserve a proper education in public school."

* * *

Once the debate was over, the members of the ABC returned to their drinking. Prouvaire was talking with Angélique, while Enjolras tried to fight his inner impulses of grabbing Angélique and take her away from all of them.

"Do you accept one glass of wine, _mademoiselle_?" Prouvaire asked her.

"Yes, thank you. After all this excitement I surely need something to relax." Angélique answered, looking at Enjolras.

Prouvaire and Angélique sat next to Grantaire and Combeferre.

"I hope you didn't felt offended by Feuilly's words during our debate." Combeferre said to Angélique.

"It's fine." Angélique said while drinking her wine "I'm used to listen those sort of things coming from men."

"I really admired your points of view." Combeferre praised "It's refreshing seeing a woman fighting for her rights."

"I'm not just fighting for my rights." Angélique declared "I'm fighting for the rights of every woman in this country."

"Aw… listening to you speaking… I can't keep myself from noticing how alike you are to our friend Enjolras." Grantaire said "You are like a female Enjolras! What do you think about love?"

"Love?" Angélique laughed.

"Yes, love. What do you think about romance?" Grantaire asked while drinking wine.

"Grantaire, don't bother Angélique with your impertinent questions…" Enjolras said in a severe tone.

"I never thought about it, really." Angélique confessed "I'm not concern about such topics as marriage and having children. I would like to follow my own path free of male' interference."

"I'm not talking about marriage, my friend!" Grantaire clarified "I'm talking about being in love. Prouvaire here is a great poet of human love. As for me, I'm more a lover of wine. I'm what you can call a nihilist… I don't really believe in anything but in my wine."

"How fortuned you are…" Angélique said. "I don't know love. I've never met a man worth loving."

Enjolras tried not to look upset by this conversation but her words were like a knife in him, for he has the exact feelings as she.

"I hope you find someone to love." Prouvaire smiled.

"He wishes that to everyone." Combeferre said. "If Prouvaire was the leader this would be a love revolution. Instead of bread and money, the People would receive love."

"Love is the only thing worth living for, my friends!" Prouvaire declared in a poetic tone "Love is the bread of the soul. Like music!"

"And wine!" Grantaire laughed "Want more wine, Angélique?"

"No thank you, I'm fine." she answered "It's getting late; I think I shall go home…"

"Do you want me to escort you downstairs?" Enjolras asked, trying not to sound courteous.

"Yes, please." Angélique answered in a passive tone.

Grantaire's eyes were on the couple and he smirked, for his theory was right.

* * *

Once outside, Enjolras looked at Angélique, who was with a lost look on her eyes.

"I apologize." the blonde young man said.

"What for?" Angélique looked him in the eyes.

"The meeting didn't go as I expected it to."

"Don't you worry." Angélique smiled "Never the less, I enjoyed it."

"Did you? I'm sure Prouvaire pleased you." Enjolras tried to hide his anger.

"He's a good man with great talent." Angélique said "His ideas match mine so it was obvious we got along."

"Well, you can join us anytime you feel like." Enjolras tried to remain passive "And you could see Prouvaire..."

"It's not in Prouvaire I'm interest in." Angélique interrupted him.

Enjolras stare into her eyes and a little smile was drawing in his face in hope what Angélique was talking about himself. And by looking into her golden eyes he was sure.

"It is on the revolution." Angélique lied, breaking the eye-contact.

"Oh… yes, of course." Enjolras was disappointed but tried not to show it "So do I."

"Walk me home?" she asked.

"Yes." the young man smiled.

* * *

As Enjolras escorted Angélique home, they talked about revolution and their political points of view. And the young man couldn't stop but to feel draw towards this unique female; she was so different from all the other women he met before. Although, she was strong and had solid beliefs, there was certain fragility to her and that was what makes her so intriguing. She wasn't only a pretty face but a true warrior and that was appealing to Enjolras.

Once they arrived to the old building where Angélique lives, at _rue de Verneuil, _Enjolras noticed his own apartment was only a few buildings ahead.

"You live near me… My apartment is at _rue de Saint-Pères_. How come I've never saw you?"

"Maybe we had already seen each other but we were too concentrated on our revolutionary beliefs to notice."

"Maybe…" Enjolras smiled.

"I don't have a face people would remember."

Angélique shrugged her shoulders and Enjolras' body come closer to hers.

"I disagree…"

Their faces were so close that Angélique could feel his breathe in her lips.

"Do you?" she was nervous.

Enjolras felt an increase desire of kissing her lips. He remembered the couple he saw last night thought his window and was burning inside for doing the same with this woman standing in front of him. But he couldn't give into his impulses; there were greater things for him right now. Besides, he couldn't figure out that Angélique was thinking: her lips were a little open and her eyes were lost in his lips.

"I shall go now." Enjolras step aside from her "You are home and it's late."

"Yes… it is…" Angélique whispered, still lost in the moment where he was so close. "Thank you. For everything…"

"Thank you." Enjolras said.

Angélique opened the old building's door but didn't go inside; she turned aside and looked at the beautiful blonde young man before her.

"What for?"

"For your contribution for tonight's meeting." Enjolras lied and regret his stupid gratitude.

Angélique looked disappointed with his answered but managed to smile.

"You don't need to thank me for that." she said.

"I know."

"_What the hell I'm saying?_" Enjolras thought to himself.

Angélique laughed by his confusion.

"You're a good man, Enjolras."

"Hope to see you around." the young man wished.

"You know where I live." Angélique smiled "Well, good night."

"Good night…"

Enjolras smiled and she closed the door.

* * *

**Hope you are enjoying it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**By the way, thank you ConcreteAngelRoxHerHalo for your support! (:**

**Thank you for the reading!**


	4. Red and Black

**Chapter Four**

_**RED AND BLACK  
**_

* * *

Enjolras felt drunk as he walked home. The short distance between him and Angélique was unbearable and his only wish was to kiss her. Because he was so bewitched with the brunette he even forgot to warn his ABC fellow comrades that he was going home.

"_What's happening to me?"_ Enjolras thought to himself. "_These attitudes are not alike me… Why I'm even thinking about her? This is ridiculous… I've just met her today!_"

Once again, lonely Enjolras went into his small apartment. But this evening, a different desire was on his chest; the wish that she was with him. While undressing himself, Enjolras felt Angélique' imaginary hands undressed him and her lips kissing his muscled chest. He tried to break free from such thoughts but he couldn't. He lied on the bed and felt a burning sensation below his abdominal area and he felt his erection. Enjolras took a deep breath and tried to forget about it, after all he refused the life of a normal man in benefit of the upcoming revolution. But he couldn't help it… This longing for her was too excruciating; it was burning inside of him. He wanted her in his embrace and to kiss her lips and…

"_No, no, Enjolras!"_ he said to himself "_You can't think about such things… Focus on what matters… But she does matters… No! She doesn't! I mean, she does but not in that way… Nobody cares about my lonely soul… Does she care about me? Stop and breathe… Why would I want a woman now if I've never wanted one before? But her breasts… Oh… her breasts! Quick it, already! You don't stand a chance with her, Enjolras. But the way she looks at me… I know she feels the same. No, she doesn't! She was all smiles with Prouvaire! But she said it herself; she's not interested in him! Have I gone mad?"_

He remained lied on his bed, waiting for the sleep to come and the sun to rise.

* * *

During the following days, every time Enjolras left his apartment he wished to find Angélique on the street. Although for the next four days, he never found her. He felt afraid for the first time in his life; he knew Angélique continued her public speeches about Women's Rights and was haunted by the thought that she could have been arrested.

During the Friends of the ABC meetings, his fellows noticed his leader was colder than before. The words that come out from his mouth were like sharpen knifes.

"What's the matter with you tonight?" Grantaire asked "It's your _petite ange*****?"_

"Have you not given up that idea?" Enjolras said

"Since the last night she was here and you left us without saying goodbye you've only gave me reasons to be suspicious…" Grantaire grinned. "Have you made love to her?"

"What?" Enjolras stared at him with a furious glance.

"You've heard me…" the young man answered "What are you waiting for? Is your brunette angel giving you a _hard time_? Ha-ha! I bet she is! Your little _grisette!"_

"Shut up, you drunken fool!" Enjolras shouted in anger. "She's no _grisette_!"

Enjolras raised from his chair, furiously, and almost started a fight with Grantaire, if Combeferre and Courfeyrac did not have stopped him.

"Oi! Calm down, Enjolras!" Combeferre demanded "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." the leader acknowledged "Grantaire is drunk as always and saying reckless things."

"No need to scream at him, Enjolras…" Courfeyrac said "What's wrong with you? Lately you seem to be out of yourself, my friend!"

"I apologize for my attitude." Enjolras asked "I've been feeling… ill, lately."

"Good euphemism!" Grantaire grinned.

"Shut up!" Enjolras shouted.

"Oi, Grantaire, enough with the provocation!" Combeferre begged "Enjolras, I've never thought I would be in this role but you have to get yourself together…"

"I'm fine." Enjolras said "I don't know what's happening to me lately. I believe it's because I sense the revolution is near…"

"All of us feel anxious as well, my good friend." Combeferre shared his pain "I think you put too much of yourself in our plan…"

"It's my life."

"I know." Combeferre smiled "Even though, go home and get some rest. Tomorrow you'll feel better."

"No." Enjolras denied "I shall not. I must stay here."

"Go home, my friend." Combeferre said with tenderness "You are tired. There will be no revolution tonight; you can go get some rest."

"I guess you are right, my wise friend…" Enjolras confessed "I shall go, then. Goodnight, everyone."

The blonde young man went downstairs.

"He's not alright at all!" Combeferre said "He looks extremely tired… That I'm afraid his passion for the upcoming revolution is messing with his head…"

"It is not his head that is messed up, my dear fellow." Grantaire declared "It's his heart."

"His heart!?" Combeferre was confused "What do you mean?"

"If you haven't noticed it yet, I won't tell you…" Grantaire said and drank a glass full of wine.

* * *

As Enjolras walked home he felt a sudden desire to start the revolution alone and kill every monarch of Paris for he was filled with such rage. Not seeing Angélique nor hear of her was corrupting him inside. He needed to see her, to receive news from her, to make sure she was not harmed. Therefore, Enjolras made the decision of moving towards the old building where she lives, instead of going home. As soon as he arrived, he was surprised: Angélique was sitting, all alone, on the staircase of the building.

"Finally you've arrived!" she said.

Enjolras was confused.

"I've waited for you here every night." Angélique confessed. "But you never came… until now."

"You waited for me…?"

Enjolras didn't know what to think or what to do; for his head was mystifying. Angélique rose from the stone staircase and looked into his eyes.

"Well, of course." the brunette smiled "I wanted to see you again."

"You could have showed up at the ABC meetings. I wanted you to…"

"You wanted me to do what?" Angélique walked towards him.

"To be at the meetings with us." Enjolras lied.

"I've been busy lately." she said, returning his cold answer.

"How is your campaign doing?" the blonde young man asked "Any progresses?"

"Not really…" she was downcast "The Law's block is exhausting… The women are start losing faith. But I will not give up from what I believe in."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Enjolras confessed. "But you could join us at the ABC and fight along us…"

"Yes, we could fight side by side." Angélique smiled.

The young woman was close to him and looked at his chest and his arms. Enjolras didn't know what she was thinking and being so close to her was intoxicating. He wanted to hold her into his arms and kiss her skin.

"Red looks good on you." she whispered.

"The color of the blood of angry men…" Enjolras smiled.

"Although, you wear a lot of black as well…"

"It's the darkness of ages past."

"Do you always have such beautiful things to say about colors?" Angélique smiled.

"I wish I could speak about all the beauty I see more often…"

"Do you?" Angélique asked "And do you see any beauty around you, right now?"

"Yes, I do…" Enjolras looked into her eyes "Red is also the color of desire."

"And black is also the color of despair…" Angélique whispered without breath.

"Yes, it is…"

Enjolras grabbed her face between his hands and his eyes were lost into hers.

"How can the world change so suddenly?" Angélique said "How can the wrong seem right? So many things unknown…"

"So many things unclear…"

"Your eyes are full of loneliness…" Angélique whispered. "Like mine."

"Are you a lonely person, Angélique?"

"As much as you, Enjolras." she confessed, stepping aside from him.

"We could have tea tomorrow at the Cafe Musain… If you'd like…"

"Yes." Angélique smiled "I'd love to have tea with you."

"Tomorrow, then?" Enjolras felt his chest full of joy "It's getting late."

"Isn't always?" Angélique laughed "It's always late… How the time flies."

"I shall go now…"

"Good night."

Enjolras grabbed her hand and she turned to face him.

"Yes…?" Angélique whispered.

"Good night."

Enjolras kissed her hand while she smiled with bright eyes. She turned her back on him and opened the building's door.

"I would invite you in, but it's too early although it is too late in night time." she said "Good night, Enjolras."

* * *

**Translation (French - English):**

* **_Petite Ange_**- Meaning "_Little Female Angel_", because _"petite"_ is the female form to _"petit" _(male) - small, little.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	5. No More Wasted Dreams

**Chapter Five**

_**NO MORE WASTED DREAMS**_

* * *

A new day dawned.

At the end of his school day, Enjolras led to the Cafe Musain, excited to see Angélique. Although, he forgot to tell her at what time their tea was supposed to be. But, somehow, he knew that she would come and they would meet each other. Enjolras did not believe in Fate; but life has proved to him that some events cannot be mere coincidence. For instance, if, in that day, he didn't go to Cafe Musain earlier than usual, he would never met Angélique and wouldn't become in touch with the existence of the Women's Rights movement in Paris. Enjolras thought how strange life can be, how unpredictable events can lead to something grander than him.

Once he arrived at Cafe Musain, Angélique was no near to be found. Yet, he took a seat and the young redhead waitress went towards him. It was Christelle, very well-known for being a _grisette_, although Louison gave her job as a _garçonete_***** at the Cafe.

"Isn't it a little early for you to be here, _Monsieur_?" she asked with a smile and bend over to show her cleavage to him. "What gives us the honor of your visit?"

"I come for tea with a fellow comrade." he answered in a serious tone, without looking at her breasts.

"Would you like anything else?" Christelle asked, with lust "Before the tea? I have some _sweets_ I would like you to prove… If you know what I mean, sweet, beautiful, Enjolras."

Enjolras pierced her with a furious glance.

"I know exactly what you mean and I demand you to get out of my sight." he declared with anger "I'm not interested in your sweets."

"All of us are starting to think you have interest in another kind of sweets!" Christelle said.

"I couldn't care less about what all of you, _grisettes_, think of me." Enjolras rolled his eyes "You can go, now. I will call you when she arrives."

"She!?" Christelle laughed out loud while walking away.

Enjolras remain quiet, waiting for Angélique to arrive. He started feeling anxious and was afraid that she might have been in the Cafe Musain but left, because he did not showed up. He waited for one hour and started to think she would not come. But, when he was losing all of his hopes on her arrival; there she was, wearing a dark-red gown covered by a long and heavy black overcoat, her dark hair was caught inside a dark hat with red flowers: it was the first time Enjolras saw her wearing a hat. His eyes turned bright and she smiled at him.

"Good afternoon." Angélique greeted.

"Hello." Enjolras smiled with tenderness.

Angélique sat in the chair in front of him.

"You've invited me and here I am."

"I was afraid that you might have left…" Enjolras confessed "Well, I did not tell you at which hour was our tea… So I was afraid that you could have been here before…"

"Ironically, you were the one who's been waiting!" Angélique laughed. "I apologize for my late arrival."

"I don't mind waiting for you…"

Angélique looked at him and saw the tenderness in his eyes. Christelle, the waitress, walked towards them. The _grisette_ stood closer to Enjolras, observing Angélique.

"We want two teas, Christelle." Enjolras said without taking his eyes of Angélique.

"Anything else?" the grisette asked with rudeness "Does the _mademoiselle_ wants some biscuits?"

"No, thank you." Angélique smiled.

"I'm sure you have the best biscuit already!" Christelle grinned with disdain.

Angélique did not understand what she was referring to.

"Do not bother us with your insolence, Christelle." Enjolras stared at her with bitterness. "Get out!"

Christelle turned her back on the couple and walked towards the counter.

"Enjolras…" Angélique disapproved his answer "You didn't need to be so bitter with her."

"You don't know her." Enjolras explained "She's not like you…"

"I'm equal to every other woman, Enjolras." she declared "I'm not granter, I'm not less. If you believe in Equality, you should know that. No woman is inferior to another, not mattering what occupation she may have."

"I apologize for my behavior." Enjolras said "It was rude of me."

Christelle arrived with the teas and left them on the table, without saying a word.

"But, please, let's not talk about politics." Angélique asked "Talk me about yourself… Did you born here, in Paris?"

"I'm not fond of talking about my past…"

"Why not?" Angélique raised her eyebrow "Is there anything you feel ashamed of?"

"I'm an only child of rich parents." Enjolras answered "It's a paradox taking into consideration what I'm fighting for."

"I believe it isn't." Angélique said "If only all the rich boys and girls fought for poor people's rights!"

Enjolras smiled, flattered.

"How come the Law never did discover the Friends of the ABC?"

"We masquerade as an aid society for educating children." Enjolras answered "That's why we decided to call it "ABC" but it's a play word, because it does not refers to the alphabet but to the _abaissés*_*. Meaning the "Low People" that we wish to rise up."

"How clever!" Angélique praised. "I think I shall steal your idea of playing with words!"

"And what about you?" Enjolras asked "Did you born here in Paris?"

"No." Angélique answered "I was born in Marseille, the capital of the region of Provence, in the southeastern. The People of Marseille have always been very enthusiastic about the French Revolution and with the Republican ideals."

"Yes, I know." Enjolras confirmed "Five hundred volunteers marched to Paris, in 1792, to defend the revolutionary government. While they were entering the streets of Paris they sung…"

"_Allons enfants de la Patrie. Le jour de gloire est arrivé! Contre nous de la tyrannie. L'étendard sanglant est levé!*_******_"_ Angélique sang quietly for none else to listen "It is called _La Marseillaise_********."

Enjolras smiled, feeling proud of her knowledge.

"My father used to sing this hymn to me when I was a child." she continued. "He believed in the French Revolution so much that his ideals end up killing him. When the new King took over the throne, he couldn't bear it… The Republic France he had always dreamed of was dead and he wanted to die with it."

The young man looked at her with pity on his eyes and felt the wish to embraced her, but he did not; he remain quiet, listening, for it was the only thing he could do.

"You remember me of my father." she said with a bright smile "He was a great man. When you speak about your ideals… I always think of him."

"Why did you left Marseille?" Enjolras tried to keep her away from thinking about her father's death.

"I came to Paris with the dream of being a painter." Angélique smiled sadly "But not even here, on the capital, women can be artists. I have visited some painters and I tried to convince them to teach me their techniques… Even though, none of them agreed, because I'm a woman. They said it was fine for me to draw and do watercolors but pursuing a professional career as an artist was unthinkable because it would divert me from my future role as wife and mother! How ridiculous… We, women, can't even receive training at the _École des Beaux-Arts_*********!"

Enjolras tried to keep her away from thinking about sad things and the cure was worse than the disease! This was a reality he was not familiar with and he thought about all the women who where deprived from following their dreams. This woman was awake on him feelings he thought he never had and gave him notions he had never searched for. Enjolras remembered of all the young women who tried to conquer him and to seduce him, and that he denied for he never cared about romance, that he always considered as a foolish thing… Did those young girls had their dreams shattered too?

"We, women, have the right to choose our own path." Angélique said, waking him from his meditation "I shall never allow a man to decide my future."

Enjolras remained silent.

"What's wrong?" Angélique asked, observing the empty gaze in his eyes.

"Nothing… I was just thinking…"

"What about?" she asked, gently, grabbing his hand "Tell me..."

"I was thinking about women…" Enjolras answered "Like everyone knows, I'm not interest in romance; the only welfares in my mind are the People and the revolution… Although, without being cocky, I've always had lots of women interested in me… And I've denied all of them. And I was wondering if they, too, had their dreams shattered…"

"I believe those women could have been great if the social order gave them the opportunity to be." Angélique dropping his hand, uncaringly "Do you imagine how could the world be if everyone, men and women, were equal?"

"Of course I do!" Enjolras grabbed her hands with fervor "That's what we are fighting for! For a new dawn… A new world reborn... Where the People will feel no more hunger, no more early death…"

"No more wasted dreams…"

"Every man will be a King and every woman will be a Queen!" Enjolras said "For they will rule their own lives and their Fatherland… And to that I hold, for that I live."

"For that I devoted my own life…" Angélique confessed "To accomplish what my father and the men before him did not… For that I refused a regular life of a bourgeois woman."

Enjolras never felt so far away from her as now. Equally, he has never felt so far away from himself.

"My parents are rich, too." she confessed "My mother now lives with my grandfather, who's an Art trader, in Marseille. Surprisingly, he supports my decision of becoming an artist, for his love for the Arts. Therefore, he sends me a good among of money every month. The building in which I live belongs to my grandfather; he lived here in Paris when he was studying in the University. Although, I use almost all the money he sends me for the campaigns."

"Good God in heaven… we truly are alike!" Enjolras said with tenderness.

"In time, we will achieve all of our dreams of Liberty and Equality." Angélique said with hope. "And then, you will be a King and I will be a Queen…"

"What a match made in heaven!" Enjolras joked.

"You don't smile often enough…" Angélique observed, looking down to the table "You grow more beautiful when you smile."

"I don't smile." Enjolras said with seriousness.

"I think you do." Angélique looked at him "Although, not often enough, I must say…"

"My fellows would disagree with you."

"Then why do you smile in my presence but not near them?"

Enjolras took a deep breathe and looked away.

"Near them I like to keep a serious posture because I'm the leader."

"You did not answer to my question." Angélique observed, turning his face to hers "Why do I make you smile?"

Enjolras looked into her eyes and froze; for there was no way to escape from her question.

"Don't do this to me." he begged.

"Don't do what, exactly?" Angélique asked.

"Forcing me to tell you what's in my mind…"

"I'm not forcing you into anything, Enjolras." she declared. "For we are alike… We hide our feelings and pretend that we have no emotions."

Angélique rose from the chair and search for something in her little purse.

"Here, to pay for our tea."

Angélique dropped two coins on the table, while Enjolras looked at her, without understanding.

"A woman can pay for her expenditures." Angélique smiled.

"Are you leaving?" Enjolras didn't understand.

"I have political matters to do." she answered "I'll be here at the Friends of the ABC reunion, tonight. I look forward to listen to your plans about children's education."

Enjolras grinned at her. She reattributed his grin, turned her back on him and left the Café Musain, without looking back.

"_What kind of woman are you, Angélique?" _Enjolras thought to himself, with his eyes frozen in the door from which she left.

"Fellow comrade, hum?" Christelle laughed with suspicious.

"She is a fellow comrade." Enjolras answered "She's the Women's Rights movement leader. Not all women are like you…"

"Only God knows what that bourgeois girl has that no other women around here has!" Christelle said with scorn.

Enjolras ignored her comment and gave her the money that Angélique left on the table.

"Here, to pay for the teas."

The young man turned his back on Christelle and went towards the back room, with the purpose of starting the preparations for the Friends of the ABC meeting.

* * *

**Translation (French – English) and Historical Facts:**

*** **_**Garçonete**_** – **meaning "_waitress_".

******_**Abaissés**_** –** Lowly, Abased. Into this context, means "Low People".

*** "_**Allons enfants de la Patrie. Le jour de gloire est arrivé! Contre nous de la tyrannie. L'étendard sanglant est levé!"**_– meaning "_Children of the Fatherland, let's go. The day of glory has arrived! Tyranny is against us. The bloody banner is raised!"_

**** "_**La Marseillaise**_" – meaning "_The Song of Marseille_"; originally titled _"Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" _(in English: "_War Song for the Army of the Rhine_") was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. In 1795, this hymn was adopted by the French National Convention as the Republic's anthem. The name of the song is due to first being sung on the streets of Paris by volunteers from Marseille. Nowadays, _La Marseillaise_ is the national anthem of France.

*****_**"École des Beaux-Arts"**__ – meaning "School of Fine Arts". _In this context, it's a reference to the _École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (National University of Fine Arts)_, in Paris, that only in 1897 started accepting female students.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**I've done some changes in the preview chapters and correct some grammatical mistakes, add translations for the French words and historical facts, for better understanding of the story line, if you want to take a look. (The definition for "grisette" is at chapter one)**

**Thank you so much for the nice reviews and for following! It means a lot to me. I'm doing my best to update the story every day.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	6. In My Life

**Chapter Six**

_**IN MY LIFE**_

* * *

**Paris, France**

**January 30th, 1832**

* * *

"Tonight you look more anxious than ever, Enjolras." Marius noticed.

"Did you all decided to make a target of me, now?" Enjolras asked with an edge of irritation.

Someone shouting echoed on the bass floor: two people were arguing. The students heard pans and sets of cutlery falling on the ground.

"_Where do you think you are going? You are not allowed to go to the back room!"_

"_I've been there before!"_

"What is this that I hear?" Combeferre asked "Someone is shouting downstairs!"

"Could it be the Law?" Courfeyrac was terrified "Could it be? Have they found out about us?"

The students, fearing for the worst, grabbed their guns. Except for Grantaire, who hold his bottle of brandy and drank a gulp.

"_You can't go upstairs!" _they hear Louison's voice shouting at someone. _"Monsieur Enjolras!"_

"What on earth is happening down there?"

Enjolras shouted downstairs, to Louison, and he saw the large dish-washer of Café Musain trying to hold someone by the arm.

"_Someone grab that girl! Where do you think you're going? You've got some nerves!"_

"_Let go of me!" _the other female voice screamed.

The two females started running up by the stairs. While all the students were holding their guns, waiting. Louison was holding Angélique's arm tightly and furiously, while screaming at her. The young men lied down their weapons, breathing a great sight of relief.

While Angélique was trying to free herself from Louison's hands, she made such resistance, that the woman nearly fell of the stairs, and Angélique fell into the arms of Enjolras, who looked at her in amazement, struggling to maintain a rigid posture. In his embrace, with her head against his chest, time seemed to freeze and all she wanted was holding him. But soon, she returned to real time when Louison pulled her by the arm with fury.

"_Messieurs__*****_, I'm so sorry to bother you!" Louison spoke to the students, panting each word. "I was washing dishes in the kitchen when I saw this _mademoiselle_ trying to enter to the back room!"

"It is fine, _Madame_." Enjolras said with diplomacy "I've invited her to join us."

Louison looked at Enjolras with confusion; for she was the only woman allowed to enter the Friends of the ABC's secret meeting place. The middle-age woman freed up Angélique' arm, without saying a word about it.

"I'm sorry, _Monsieur_." the woman apologized "I did not know that…"

"Don't you worry, Louison." Combeferre smiled "You were just doing your job."

"I'm sorry if I've hurt your arm, _Mademoiselle_." Louison said to Angélique.

"No need to apologize." she smiled, grabbing Louison by her hand "You are a good woman, _Madame_. You were only doing your job, like _Monsieur_ Combeferre said. See this situation through this perspective: at least they now know you are able to keep them safe while they are in here."

"Oh, good, _mademoiselle_, you are too kind." Louison smiled.

Enjolras tried his best not to smile at this.

"May God always be with you, my dear."

Louison kissed Angélique on her forehead and smile at her, and then the middle-aged woman went back downstairs to continue her works in the kitchen.

"Well, _mademoiselle_, you do really like to make an entrance!" Grantaire joked. "I think you should consider the Theatre!"

"If I am to be an actress you will have to be the playwritter!" Angélique said and all the students laughed except Enjolras, who did not found this intimacy with Grantaire amusing at all.

"Oh, but of course! And I would write witty quotations for you to act." Grantaire proceeded with his provocation "You would play a drunken _grisette _who was supported by her revolutionary lover and lived for nothing but for her wine!"

"Is that the idea you have about women?" Angélique said in a sad tone "Or should be more correct to ask… Is that idea you have of me, _Monsieur_? Do you think of me as a _grisette_?"

"Ah-ah, you found yourself a sharp enemy, Grantaire!" Bahorel laughed "I like her, already! I believe I was not introduced to this lovely lady… I'm Bahorel. At your service, _mademoiselle_…"

"_Enchanté, Monsieur_. I'm Angélique." she said, but did not show any emotion, and Bahorel kissed her hand.

"Oh! Your name could not be more suitable to you, _mademoiselle_!" Bahorel courted. "You surely are the image of France!"

Enjolras rolled his eyes, annoyed by the constant dalliance of his fellows towards Angélique. Although, he felt something was not right with her; she seemed sad and in distress.

"How charming, _Monsieur_ Bahorel!... The answer to my question… Grantaire?"

"Of course I don't think of you as a _grisette_, _mademoiselle_! I have held you in high regard." Grantaire answered. "But let's not dispute, my little angel… How is your campaign for Women's rights doing? Well, I hope."

"Javert and his guards arrested Jacqueline and four other women this evening… They will be facing the Law for treason against the King." Angélique answered, with tears forming in her eyes.

Enjolras remember Jacqueline, Jacques as she likes to be called, the blonde young woman who was with Angélique on the day they have met. The ghost of the possibility of her being arrested and executed was tormenting him once again.

"I was a coward!" she said full of resent "I should have stayed with them... I should have not run away!"

"You are not a coward, _mademoiselle_." Courfeyrac said, trying to comfort her "I cannot even image the terror you went through this evening… You are brave enough to stand up for your ideals, even knowing that the social order does not recognize the value of strength in women."

Angélique looked at Courfeyrac with moist eyes and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh, _Monsieur_…" she whispered in sadness "My fellows will be executed by the National Guard... I'm certain of that. And I should be with them, not in here, weeping. It's my entire fault… I should have not left Jacques behind… Oh, poor child… Her mother will be devastated!"

Courfeyrac sat beside Angélique and caressed her shoulder. Enjolras tried not to feel enraged at this, for he knew that Courfeyrac was a gentle heart, he cares for everyone and is always trying his best to comfort the ones who are hurt. Although, the sight of another man touching Angélique felt like a cold dagger stabbing his stomach, even if that touch was pure innocence.

"Don't bother to cry, _mademoiselle_." Couferyac said "You are within friends."

"This terrible event shows that the Law is tightening the siege!" Enjolras said, trying to keep his usual untouchable posture. "We must keep our minds more focus than before."

"We must plan everything to detail." Combeferre said.

"Yes, my good friend." Enjolras agreed. "Our time to fight is near… I can sense it."

"General Lamarque is ill." Gavroche arrived.

The students fell silent to the young boy's news.

"What?" Combeferre asked to the young _gamin******._

"The People's man is ill?" Enjolras asked.

"Yes, _Messieurs_!" Gavroche conferred. "He has contracted cholera. They did not reveal anything else, about his health condition, although."

"Our time is near…" Enjolras said. "We must prepare ourselves. Combeferre!"

Angélique looked at Enjolras with tears in her eyes and he looked at her, with a strange emotion within his glance; it was concern. When Combeferre came near him, the blonde young man looked away.

"_Mademoiselle_, let me introduce to you: little _Monsieur_ Gavroche." Courfeyrac said. "Gavroche, this is Angélique. She's no ordinary woman… She's the Women's Rights movement's leader, here, in Paris."

"Hello there, _mademoiselle_!" Gavroche bowed to Angélique.

"_Enchanté, petit Monsieur."_ Angélique smiled.

"Why were you crying, _mademoiselle_?" the young boy asked noticing the redness of her eyelids and her wet cheeks.

"Gavroche!" Courfeyrac disapproved his impertinence. "You can't ask people about things that are upsetting for them."

"Do not censure him, _Monsieur_ Courfeyrac …" Angélique said "Today was a very sad day… Five fellows of mine were arrested by the National Guard and are to be executed."

"Do not despair, _mademoiselle_!" Gavroche declared "For we will avenge them! There will be a time when the People will cry no more."

"Those are some wise words…"

"It's to show what little men can do!" Gavroche said and went towards Enjolras and Combeferre.

"Who are the parents of the boy?" Angélique asked to Courfeyrac.

"The Thénardiers, they are now known as The Jondrettes, they are beggars. But they left Gavroche on the streets, where he became a _gamin_… Poor child… He was an older sister, Éponine; it's the brunette girl who is always following Marius around. But she does not care for him. I'm the one who takes care of him. We are the only family he has."

"You are a very good man, _Monsieur_ Courfeyrac." she smiled and the young man blushed.

"What's with the sad faces?" Grantaire sat next to Angélique and Courfeyrac "Isn't the world a depressing place? I brought to you my own sources of joy: wine and brandy."

"I sure need some alcohol, Grantaire, thank you." Angélique said and took one bottle in her hand and took a large gulp. "Oh… I want this day to be over…"

"Aw… It's always beautiful when I find someone who shares my passions!" Grantaire laughed.

"_Mademoiselle_, you shouldn't be drinking so much." Courfeyrac observed with concern.

"Prouvaire!" Grantaire called "Come here! We need poetry over here!"

Prouvaire went towards the three fellows and sat next to them.

* * *

"Good night, everyone!" Combeferre said goodbye and went downstairs.

A loud laugh echoed through the room and caught the attention of Enjolras. He saw Grantaire, Courfeyrac, Prouvaire and Angélique all laughing, at the corner of the room. Angélique was alone with those witty young men and she was, clearly, enjoying it, because she laughed at everything they say. Enjolras went towards them, with a choleric glance.

"What on earth it's happening on here?" Enjolras asked with a furious tone.

"We are drowning our sorrows, my dear Apollo." Grantaire answered.

"Don't call me that." Enjolras warned "Were you drinking!? Where do you think you are? This is not a tavern and we are not here to celebrate and booze!"

"Don't be so rude, Enjolras…" Angélique said with a heavy and slow voice.

"Are you…?" Enjolras was furious "Grantaire, you allow her to drink alcohol!?"

Grantaire laughed.

"Angélique said she needed some alcohol because her day was terrible." the brunette young man answered "I was just being selfless and friendly… The poor girl needed something to loosen up, she was too nervous…"

Enjolras wanted to punch Grantaire in the face, but restrained himself. Then, he looked at Courfeyrac and Prouvaire.

"And you two… You are as bad as him!" the leader said "I'm terribly disappointed with your behavior. Not long ago, I've said we need to be more focus than ever before and here you are, drinking and laughing! This is not a game… Have you considered what can be the price we'll have to pay?"

"We know that, Enjolras, and we know it is no excuse for our behavior." Courfeyrac declared "But for knowing that… We decided to relax a bit and seized the moment. Besides, you were having a private conversation with Combeferre. But now, that the meeting is over, take a drink with us. One drink will do you no harm."

"You know I don't drink." the blonde young man recalled.

"Just one drink…" Grantaire grinned, rising his bottle of brandy to Enjolras.

The leader took a deep breath and looked at Angélique; she was laughing with Courfeyrac and they seemed way too friendly with each other for Enjolras' taste. He knew how successful Courfeyrac, with his soft manners and sweet words, was with women. Lead by his rage, the blonde young man took the bottle and drank a large gulp of brandy.

"I can't believe my eyes!" Grantaire laughed "My beloved leader is giving up to his human impulses, at last!"

"See? There is no harm in one drink." Courfeyrac smiled "You are a human being, Enjolras. We all admire your determination and concentration on the revolution… But you are not a priest… And you are not all-powerful, you have your limitations and you deserve some rest."

Enjolras was feeling a bit dizzy for he was not used to drink alcohol and Grantaire's brandy was strong.

"Yes…" Enjolras said "And that's the reason why I'm going home."

"Going home?" Prouvaire asked with sadness "Stay with us a bit more…"

"No." Enjolras declined the invitation "I need to get some rest."

"Wait." Angélique said "I shall go home, too. Good night, everyone."

Enjolras nodded with his head and they went downstairs.

* * *

Once outside, Enjolras tried to remain calm but he was out of himself. Angélique was calm; she seemed to be anaesthetized for there was no expression in her face or in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Nevermore think of being arrested and executed by the National Guard, Angélique!" Enjolras begged.

"What difference would it make?" she asked "You are willing to die for your ideals… And so am I."

"You must be careful from now on…" Enjolras said.

"I will not stop my campaign… It would be an insult to their memories! My fellows will not die in vain…" Angélique declared. "I will continue to fight until every woman in this Land is free!"

"I share your dream; you know that…" he said "But your dream will not be accomplished in this century…"

"And yours will be?" Angélique shouted in anger "Because you have the People on your side? Because we are women! And the Friends of the ABC is a male organization!?"

Enjolras hold her hands, while she cried in grief for the loss of her friends.

"Hush now…" Enjolras begged with tenderness "You are tired and I believe you have drank too much. I will kill Grantaire for this…"

"Don't leave me alone… Not tonight… I don't care if it is too early… In my life, I've always been terrified of how the time flies…" Angélique asked, breathless.

"I shall not leave you alone." Enjolras promised "Not tonight…"

"For you are the _liberté__*****_*** **that leads the People… You are the glory of the glorious revolution… You are the lover of France." Angélique said.

"And you also are _Liberty leading the People_********…" Enjolras praised "Surely Delacroix was thinking about you when he painted the Goddess of Liberty… For you are Marianne*********, herself…"

"Although, now ... I'm the defeated Marianne, after the battle, full of grief and sorrow ..."

Enjolras touched her shoulders, tenderly, and looked into her eyes with affection.

"Why even now you are afraid to hold me?" she asked.

"I'm terrified…" he confessed.

"Just hold me… Because I'm also terrified." she begged, with tears in her eyes. "For I do not know what tomorrow will bring…"

Enjolras held her in his embrace; her face resting on his chest, while his heartbeat was accelerating and she could listen to it. His hand caressed her hair, while the tears were falling down her cheeks.

"I will keep you safe." he whispered.

"That's all I need to know…"

* * *

**Translation (French – English) and Historical Facts:**

*****_**Messieurs –**_ meaning "_gentlemen_", it is the plural form to "_Monsieur_".

**** **_**Gamin**_** – **a _Gamin_ is a boy who hangs around on the streets and in _Les Misérables_ novel they are the most beloved subclass to Victor Hugo. They are children, naturally "pure", cautious, clever and have a perpetually cheerful manner.

*******_**Liberté – **_meaning "_Liberty_". Victor Hugo choose three characters, members of the Friends of the ABC, to represent the motto of the French Revolution: _Liberté _(Liberty), _Égalité_ (Equality), _Fraternité_ (Fraternity). **Enjolras** was **Liberty** (for he was the **leader**, he was the fist of the revolution raised defiantly skyward), **Combeferre **was **Equality** (for he was the **guide**, the man with the plan, who fought for men, he is the mind of the revolution) and **Courfeyrac** was **Fraternity** (for he was the **centre**, he is the big heart of the revolution, he brought compassion, affection, good humor and hope to others around him).

********_**Liberty Leading the People**_ – allusion to Eugene Delacroix's 1830 painting, commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which topple Charles X of France. In the painting it shows a woman personifying Liberty (also known as Marianne) leading the People forward over the bodies of the fallen, holding the flag of the French Revolution (the tricolor flag which is today's French flag) in one hand and brandishing a bayoneted musket with the other.

*****_**Marianne**_ – Marianne is the French figure of Liberty and is, nowadays, the symbol of France and of the French Republic. She is called "the goddess of Liberty" and she was created in 1775, when Jean-Michel Moreau painted her as a young woman dressed in Roman style clothing. During the French Revolution, she became a symbol for Liberty and was described as young and determined, although she is not aggressive. By 1793, the conservative figure of Marianne was replaced by a more violent image; that of a woman, bare-breasted and fierce of visage, often leading men into battle.

– Therefore, my character of Angélique is a representation of Marianne: representing Liberty and France herself, and for those reasons, Enjolras fell in love with her, because Angélique was France.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**Thank you so much for the nice reviews and for following! It means a lot to me.  
**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	7. A Man Worth Loving

**Chapter Seven**

_**A MAN WORTH LOVING**_

* * *

They have arrived to Angélique's house and the three bells of Notre Dame de Paris chimed midnight. The night was cold and a light breeze blew. Angélique looked above to see the starry sky and took a deep breath. Enjolras looked at her and felt astonished by the peaceful expression on her face; an expression he never saw before.

"It's past midnight." she remarked "Today, February the First, is the day of _L'Étoile_*."

Enjolras did not understand that she meant.

"_L'Étoile_ is the trump of hope and trust… the intuition that everything is in balance. She brings the conscience that the chosen path is the right one and the end of this way will be a good one, for there is a perfect harmony between the emotions of the mind and the impulses of the body… She brings the music of what could be…" she continued in a soft tone.

"What are you talking about?" Enjolras asked with confusion.

"My mother is a card-reader." Angélique informed "This is a fact that not everyone knows in Marseille, otherwise it could bring her trouble. Women are not seen as accurate card readers… Otherwise, male card readers are held in high regard. As usual…"

"You truly are a remarkable box full of surprises!" Enjolras observed. "Is there any way to reveal how the revolution will unfold? Can you read the stars for me?"

Angélique grabbed his hand and smiled.

"Please, come in…" she invited, pulling him, gently, by the hand.

The inside of the building was dark and had the scent of cold stone. Angélique guided Enjolras to climb the stairs to the upper rooms. When they arrived the hallway, she opened the second door on the left and lighted the five candles of the silver candlestick above a wooden closet, near the door, illuminating the space: it was a medium room, with a large window covered by heavy curtains, with walls covered with flowery wallpaper and a wooden dressing table full of books, white papers, fountain pens and black ink.

Enjolras stood, silent, in front of the door, while the brunette entered the room and went towards her wooden double-bed and lighted the candles of the silver candlestick over the bedside table.

"My room is quite bourgeois, hum?" Angélique grinned. "You can come inside… Don't stand there on the hallway, Enjolras."

The young man was a bit scared for he has never entered in a woman's room before. He felt how ridiculous that fear was: he hasn't afraid of giving his life to the revolution and to die for his ideals and for the People, although, there he was, the glorious leader, scared of entering Angélique's room.

"What are you so afraid of?" she asked, while sitting on her bed.

"I shouldn't be here." Enjolras answered in a nervous tone "I'm feeling odd because of Grantaire's brandy."

"There is no other place where you should be, right now." Angélique said, breathless.

"I should be at home." Enjolras stuttered a little "I should be sleeping for the brandy makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Is it?"

"What?"

"The brandy…" Angélique remarked "That makes you feel uncomfortable?"

Enjolras was breathing heavily and went towards her, with a desperate facial expression. The young Apollo knelt down on the floor, in front of her, and looked above with a hopeless stare.

"This is unbearable… I can't live like this… I try to focus on the revolution and in all the things I have to do but… I can't… because of you. I'm being consumed by my longing for you… I can't sleep… I dream about you every night… I feel ridiculous… I can't help it! And sometimes you are so full of affection and I think you feel the same… but then you turn cold and I'm not so sure… Give me a sign that you don't feel the same way and I will forget…"

Angélique looked at him with bright eyes but didn't say a word.

"If you are suffering as much as I please tell me…" the young man begged.

"Oh, Enjolras… I can't… I…" Angélique whispered "I think I'm a bit drunk… I'm too proud… I've never felt this way before… I don't know what I'm feeling…"

They were lost into each other's eyes and Enjolras grabbed her face between his hands.

"You have awaked feelings in me I never thought I had…" he confessed "Everything Prouvaire always said makes sense to me, now… And that's not alright! But I can't help it… I want to… I don't know… Every time you said "good night", my only wish was to take you home with me and kiss you and make love to you… I feel pathetic saying such things! I'm out of myself! I must go home!..."

Angélique grabbed his arm, gently, with bright eyes full of tears, not allowing him to go away.

"You made me doubt of everything I've always believe in…" she said "But… I don't want to depend upon a man… And I can't help feeling this… burning desire inside of me. Oh, how many nights I've wanted you to be by my side, Enjolras, laying in my bed with me, kissing me... Is this love? I don't know… I shouldn't have confessed these things… Not to you."

"You feel the same way, then?"

Enjolras was feeling intoxicated just for listening to her words and sat on the bed, beside her.

"I can't hide it any longer… It's driving me insane…" she confessed, caressing his face, while he shivered from her touch "We should be lovers but we can't do that… For nothing will keep us together… Not even ourselves."

"Why throw everything away for one happy day?" Enjolras said.

"We could steal time just for one day… For I can't help myself from loving you…"

"If so… love me…"

"I can't decide what I love the most… If your beautiful flesh, if your beautiful mind..."

"You can love them both…" Enjolras smiled while his nose touched hers.

"How fortuned I am…" she whispered "I've found a man worth loving…"

Enjolras took the courage to kiss her and so he did. Their lips met, while his hands caress her face and her arms. Angélique gave in into his embrace and felt her body melting within his arms. Her mouth tasted of wine.

"Oh, Enjolras…" she sighed "You kiss with such passion as you speak of revolution."

"So do you…"

He kissed her again and again. His longing for her was so profound that the only thing he could do was to hold her, strongly, in his embrace. His lips started to kiss her neck and went down to her cleavage, his hands grabbing her breasts; he could feel them for she never wears corsets but hides her breasts away with heavy overcoats.

"Wait…" she begged, breathing heavily. "Don't do that…"

"I apologize." Enjolras stepping aside and blushing "I don't know what I'm doing… It was rude of me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that… I don't know what's happening to me. I've lost control. Forgive me…"

"Forgive you?" Angélique smiled "For making me feel this overwhelm? No… I do not forgive you. For I've never felt so alive in my entire live… But I… I've never been with a man before…"

"I've never been with a woman before either." Enjolras confessed "I've never wanted to."

Angélique lay down on her bed and looked into his eyes. The breathing was heavy on her chest. She wide-opened her overcoat and unbutton the top of her dress, reveling her bare breasts to him. Enjolras stared at this vision, panting.

"You are the first man to see them." Angélique confessed.

"How fortuned I am."

Enjolras stole her trademark expression and she smiled.

"Make me feel alive, Enjolras…" she whispered.

The blonde young man lay down over her and avidly kissed her lips.

"Make me feel racing blood in my veins." he murmured into her ear.

"Let me see you…" she requested and started unbuttoning his jacket and his shirt, exposing his bare chest to her. "Now, we are equal."

Her hand moved around his chest, feeling his muscles and his skin. Enjolras bend over her and kissed her lips, then he moved down to her neck, while she was breathing heavily, kissing his way to her breasts, he took her nipples into his mouth, caressing them with his tongue, while her hands were locked between the curls of his blonde hair.

"Oh…Enjolras…" she sighed with a smile upon her face.

Enjolras' hand moved below the fabric of her dress, touching her stomach and went down, moving his fingers inside her, while she moaned. His lips met hers and they kissed passionately. Her hand moved to his male organ and felt his erection and caress it, without knowing that she was doing and what to do next. Enjolras gasped.

"Wait…" the young man suddenly stopped "You're still a maid and I don't want you to feel regret…"

"You don't want to make love to me?" Angélique asked in sadness.

"Don't you feel my desire for you?" Enjolras whispered, grabbing her hand and made her touch in his arousal. "Oh, Goddess of Liberty… Goddess of my passion… Only God knows how your eyes melted the ice inside of me and turned me into fire…"

"Never thought of you as a religious man…" she laughed, while touching his naked chest.

"For now I am." Enjolras said "And I will pray in your body."

"And you turned into a poet…" Angélique whispered while he kissed her abdomen and undressed her dress, letting it slide off the bed, leaving her completely naked in front of him.

Enjolras caressed the skin of her legs, feeling the whiteness and discovering the touch of a woman's flesh. Led by his impulses, he kissed her whole body and bend over her, kissing her lips, while Angélique's hands unbuttoned his pants, pulled them down and throw them off the bed, leaving the young Apollo naked on the top of her. Enjolras kissed her, gently, while entering her and Angélique moaned in pain, feeling her virginity being broken into blood.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking with concern at her face contorted in sore.

"Yes…" she stuttered with a smile and kissed his lower lip. "It's a strange yet pleasant feeling…"

Enjolras embraced her and lifted her trunk from the bed, making her sit above him, as they both moaned by the burning sensation of the sexual act.

"How does it feels?" he asked her, breathing heavily against her neck.

"Warm…" she sighed "And it hurts… But it's a fine… an incredibly fine pain…"

"Yes… my Goddess…" Enjolras caressed her hair and her back, while kissing her lips.

"So… this is love!" Angélique sighted with her fingers locked into his blonde curls.

"If I'm dreaming... Don't allow anyone to wake me..." Enjolras said.

* * *

**Translation (French – English) and Historical Facts:**

*** **_**L'Étoile**_ – meaning "_The Star";_ is the seventeenth Major Arcana card in Tarot of Marseille. The Tarot of Marseille, the most well-known Tarot deck, was created in France, in the city of Marseille, in 1392. Although, only in 1889, the name "Tarot of Marseille" was coined by the French occultist Gérard Encausse (known as Papus).

– British Oculist Aleister Crowley created a system to calculate the Tarot Major Arcana card of the day (there are 23 cards, numbered form 0 to 22), in this case: 1/02/1832: 1 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 8 + 3 + 2 = 3 + 14 = 17

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**Thank you so much for the nice reviews and for following! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	8. A Heart Full of Love

**Chapter Eight**

**A HEART FULL OF LOVE**

* * *

Angélique woke up and her head was resting on Enjolras's naked chest. She looked above, to his face, and he was still sleeping; asleep into a profound slumber. She never saw him in such peace… She smiled, remembering the night before, and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent, that still was in her skin. Softly, Angélique kissed his lips, trying not to waking him up. She got off the bed and went towards her dressing table, where she grabbed a wooden plank, some white papers and a charcoal bar: she wanted to draw him.

Angélique returned to the bed and sat beside the sleeping Enjolras. Her hand, firmly, grabbed the charcoal and began scratching one of the papers. She outlined a sketch of his face, then his neck and his chest.

"It wasn't a dream after all… You said such beautiful things to me, last night…" Angélique said, caressing his naked chest with her free hand "I never thought I would hear you speaking such poetic matters…"

"Hmm?" Enjolras whispered, still sleepy and with his eyelids still closed.

"Nothing, my love…" she murmured and continued to draw him "Go back to sleep."

"What time is it?"

"I don't know but it's early morning…" she answered.

Enjolras opened his eyes and looked at her: she was naked, with her dark hair was falling down her shoulders and her chest, covering her breasts, and a wooden plank with a pile of white papers was above her crossed legs and a charcoal bar in her hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm drawing you."

Angélique turned one of the papers in his direction and Enjolras saw a perfect drawn of himself done in charcoal: she had drawn him while he was asleep, the muscles of his chest well defined and the curls of his hair seemed blonde even in black and white.

"I don't understand much about Art, but you have real talent!" he confessed, mesmerized.

She smiled at him and caressed his face, silently, but then her joyful face turned into sadness.

"And what happens now?" she asked.

Enjolras stared at her with seriousness into his eyes; he raised his trunk from the bed and sat beside her, cuddling her face.

"I cannot commit myself with you." he said in a sober tone "For I'm already committed with the revolution."

Angélique stared at him without expression into her eyes, for she was already waiting for that kind of answer.

"What's wrong?" Enjolras asked with concern.

"Nothing… I was expecting that answer..."

Angélique placed her drawings upon the bedside table and got off the bed, without saying a word, and walked towards her closet, completely naked. Enjolras felt she was upset.

"Please, Angélique…" he said "Don't be disappointed with me…"

"Don't tell me what or how to feel. I'm not one of your school boys who you can command at your wish!" she said with bitterness. "I'm such an idiot…"

Enjolras rose from the bed and walked towards her. He tried to embrace her, but she struggled and pushed away his arms.

"Please… Understand… I know you do understand my point of view." he said "Whatever will happen in the next months won't be trouble-free and I must be completely focused on what matters in order to…"

Angélique grinned with sarcasm.

"In what matters!?" she repeated "What happened between us, last night, didn't meant anything, did it? Any of the words you said to me had truth in it?"

"I was under the effect of Grantaire's brandy!" he said "I said things completely out of order! Things I shouldn't have said… But I meant every word. I do care for you, Angélique… But you said it yourself! We should be lovers, but nothing will keep us together… Not even ourselves."

"You care for me but you don't love me…"

"I do not know what this feeling is..." Enjolras confessed "I only know I've never felt this way about someone, before."

"I gave myself to you, completely… I let you know my soul and my body…" Angélique whispered, restraining herself from crying "I never trusted in a man before I met you. How cliché it is… But I do understand your point of view. Why you don't allow your heart to feel love? You want to keep this untouchable posture of a marble statue but you are not made of stone, Enjolras!"

The blonde young man looked down and took a deep breath.

"Just because I don't demonstrate my love in the way you would like it to, it doesn't mean I feel none."

Angélique stared at him and touched his arms, caressing his naked skin.

"I apologize." she asked "I was being juvenile… Forgive me for my overreaction. All this is new to me… I don't know how to act."

"Don't you fret my beloved one…" Enjolras held her naked body into his arm. "Also for me is an unknown world… I didn't mean to hurt you when I said I have to be focus on the revolution, please understand that… Sometimes I speak words sharp like knifes, but I never have in mind hurting others. Specially, not you… my angel."

The brunette kissed his bare chest with her hands caressing his back, feeling his muscles, and breathing heavily against his skin.

"The enemy we'll have to battle is a dangerous foe…" Enjolras said, cuddling her hair "Our little lives don't count at all as we fight towards a larger goal than ourselves."

"I know…" she whispered kissing his chin "But, please, forget about the revolution for a moment. As you did last night… It was a night full of you."

Enjolras stared at her, with tenderness in his serious expression, and tossed her long hair from her chest, revealing her breasts to him.

"The bare chest of Liberty…"

Angélique grabbed his hand and placed it upon her breasts, make him caressing them.

"The bare chest of your freedom." she whispered into his ear.

She came closer to his body and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him with passion and Enjolras embraced her by the waist and carried her back to the bed, bending over her and grabbing her legs with his hands and while kissing her, intensely, he made love to her once again.

* * *

Enjolras didn't made it in time to his morning classes, so he went back to Angélique's house. But once he arrived, and knocked on her door and call for her, one middle-age woman showed-up at the window of the building on the left, next to her house, and shout at the young blonde man:

"The _mademoiselle_ is not at home, _jeune_ _homme_*****!"

"Good morning, _Madame_." Enjolras screamed back "Do you know where she went?"

"_Je ne sais pas_******!" she said and closed the window.

The young blonde man took a deep breath, annoyed by the woman's answered, and walked away, leading his way to his home. He couldn't believe how last night unfolded: every moment of it was still alive in his skin, as if Angélique's hand were still caressing his skin and her lips upon his. Enjolras couldn't believe his own memories for last night wasn't a dream after all.

* * *

**Translation (French – English):**

*** **_**Jeune **__**Homme**_** –** meaning "young man".

******_**Je ne sais pas –**_ meaning "I don't know".

* * *

**It was a short chapter but I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews and for following! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	9. So It Is Written

**Chapter Nine**

_**SO IT IS WRITTEN**_

* * *

The meeting of the Friend of the ABC went without arguing that night. But everyone noticed the lost stare in Enjolras's eyes; the leader spoke once in a while, with his usual determination, but when others were speaking he seemed like he was not present, his body was there but his mind seemed to wonder. Combeferre directed the meeting. Everyone noticed this absence of Enjolras, but no one had the courage to talk to him about it, except, of course, his loyal friend Combeferre, who went towards him when the meeting ended and the other students joined for a drink.

"You seem tired…" Combeferre said to Enjolras "Did you get any rest last night?"

"What?"

Enjolras woke up from his frozen stare and looked at Combeferre with seriousness.

"I asked you if you got any rest last night."

"Why are you asking me that?" Enjolras grew suspicious that Combeferre might know something.

"Don't need to be so defensive, Enjolras." Combeferre said "You seem tired… You spend last night structuring strategies and plans for the revolution, didn't you? I've already begged you to use your nights to rest, otherwise, when the time for us to fight arrives, you will be without strength."

Enjolras felt the rigidness on his body disappearing.

"I spend the night reading Rousseau*****." he lied.

"Again?" Combeferre laughed.

"There is no such thing as reading too much Rousseau!"

"So I see." Combeferre said "And you never grow tired of it…"

Combeferre gave him a little pat on his back and went to join the other students for a drink.

"Well, well…" Grantaire didn't take too long to seat next to Enjolras "My dear Apollo is tired…"

"What do you want, Grantaire?"

"How did last night go?" the brunette young man grinned. "Some wine for you and describe to me the wonders of the little angel."

Enjolras refused Grantaire's wine and looked at him with a deadly stare.

"There is nothing to describe."

"Oh… Apollo is still a virgin…" Grantaire said with false sadness.

"That's none of your business." Enjolras said.

"Hmm… Angélique is not doing her work properly! What a pity! I like the _mademoiselle_… She is bright and witty… And she seems to have some very fine breasts!"

"If you don't shut up immediately I will punch you in the face, I swear." Enjolras said with fury.

"Why are you so offended with me by speaking about her breasts?" Grantaire asked in provocation "Did you see them, at least? Did you grab them?"

Enjolras rose from his chair and was about to punch Grantaire, when Combeferre grabbed his elbows behind his back.

"What the hell is going on?" Combeferre said "This impulse of yours of wishing to start a fight with Grantaire is getting too often, Enjolras!"

"Lately, he's been pushing his luck!" Enjolras said with anger.

"Calm down, Enjolras!" Courfeyrac begged "You know how Grantaire is…"

"Oi! What's that suppose to mean?" Grantaire asked.

"He meant that you are an imbecile!" Enjolras said.

"No, I didn't say that." Courfeyrac said, trying to calm things down "I was saying that Grantaire is a humorous person who enjoys making jokes..."

"I didn't find any humor in what he said!" Enjolras remarked.

"You didn't let me finish." Courfeyrac continued "As I was saying: he enjoys making jokes, but, sometimes, he is misjudged because other people don't have the same sense of humor as he does. So, please, calm down and don't argue with him."

"If he putted that bottle down and started to focus on what matters I wouldn't be so furious at him all the time." Enjolras said "And he wouldn't say any of his unnecessary remarks."

"Let's be reasonable here." Combeferre asked "Enjolras you are the most down-to-earth person I've ever met, but you have to understand that not all people are alike yourself. And Grantaire certainly is not. But that's the way he is; you can't expect him to change for suit your personal tastes."

"Thank you." Courfeyrac praised Combeferre.

"Still not reason enough for make me change my mind." Enjolras said.

"Stubborn as you are it does not come as a surprise." Combeferre remarked.

"There is no middle point in here." Enjolras remembered "This is not a game and I've repeat it several times! And I hope all of you are aware of what we might lose. When the time comes, we might not survive… I shall not tolerate any distractions in the next months! Our time is close… Lamarque is ill and his health is not improving; the Cholera is rotten him. His death will determinate the rise of our barricade."

Everyone remained silent while staring at Enjolras; for he knows what he might come to lose.

"And with this… I greet you good night." he concluded "For, as Combeferre said, I'm tired. I've spend last night studying... Whatever crazy ideas cross your mind, Grantaire, they are not true. I wish you all a good night and tomorrow we'll be here again, with a more strict posture, I hope."

Enjolras looked around at every student's face and went downstairs.

"What on earth have you been telling him these last days?" Courfeyrac asked Grantaire.

"Nothing in particular." he answered "I was just animating his spirit with some jokes."

"By the way Enjolras reacted, those must have been some to die laughing jokes!" Bahorel laughed.

"I didn't see anything wrong about my jokes." Grantaire defended himself "Enjolras takes everything way too seriously."

"That's because he believes with all his heart and soul in our work here." Combeferre said "So I would advise you to cease your jokes, Grantaire. Otherwise, these troubles will continue and we don't have time to lose with personal fights. We must stand together, not creating disputes."

* * *

When Enjolras left the Café Musain, he saw Angélique waiting for him on the street and went towards her, with a serious semblance. She was smiling, but her smile ceased when she saw the severe expression on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Enjolras asked "These streets are not safe! You could have been robbed or God knows what else!"

"I've been waiting for you." she answered "And if I knew you would react like this I would not have bothered to come…"

Angélique nodded with her head and started walking away, but Enjolras grabbed her arm, strongly, and made her return to him.

"Here did you went this morning?"

"Excuse me!?"

"I didn't make it on time to my morning classes, so I went back to your house and you weren't there. Where did you go?"

"I had political matters to do." she answered "Let go of my arm!"

She unchained her arm from his hand's tight embrace.

"Eugénie had the idea of creating a daily newspaper****** about women's rights, to advert the People about the unfairness of our situation. I went to the typography to make some arrangements**, **because they don't want to get it printed." she continued "Why are you speaking to me with such bitterness? Besides I do not own you justifications for my acts!"

"I apologize." he said "I was worried about you…"

"You worry too much." she said with resentment.

"You should be glad with my concern for you."

"Well, I'm not." Angélique clarified "I can take care of myself and you should know that. Besides, shouldn't you be focus on your revolution?"

"You don't forget easily, do you?" Enjolras sighed.

"No, I do not." she confirmed "Will the world remember you when you fall?"

Angélique stared into Enjolras's eyes with gravity and wanted to walk away but he grabbed her arm, gently, but she released herself, again.

"How your own death means nothing to yourself?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"Hush, now…" Enjolras said, tenderly, holding her into his embrace "Why are you even thinking about my death?"

"Because I'm terrified of losing you…" she cried-out, holding on to him strongly "I'm so afraid of losing you that I want to push you away..."

Angélique kissed his neck and his chin; she reached for his lips but he turned his face away.

"Don't kiss me here, please…" Enjolras said, looking around "Someone might see…"

"Why do you put so much effort on this puritan leader character you build?" she asked. "Your fellows have all the women they want and don't bother to hide it. They even brag about it! Look at Grantaire, he doesn't…"

"Grantaire is shameless!" Enjolras interrupted her "Sometimes, he treats our meeting's place like his own brothel!"

"You don't have to be so harsh with him all the time." she advised "He's not a bad man…"

"I have to be strict with him because he is irresponsible! He spends his days drinking and sleeping around. He does not even care about the revolution nor about democracy… I don't know why he keeps going to the meetings if his only contribution is to expend wine and bring brandy!"

"Because, he looks up to you." Angélique said "He admires you, Enjolras. Maybe, because you are his antonymous… You are everything he's not."

Enjolras caressed her hair and her face, looking at her with warmth.

"Perhaps you are right, my love."

Angélique grabbed his hand and started walking, leading him by her side.

"Claire*******, a friend of mine and also a member of our organization, showed me this incredible book…" she said with a smile "It's an 1808 book and it's called _Théorie des Quatre Mouvements et des Destinées Générales_****** **by the philosopher Charles Fourier, although, back then, he published it as an anonymous author. He's supportive of women's rights and he believes that all important jobs should be open to women, not only to men. But my favorite part was when he described women as individuals, not as the half of men. And he stands for what he called "Free Love"… He disagrees with traditional marriage because he believes it hurts women as a human being. He advocates the free union between two adults who love each other, emotional, sexually, or both. Because Fourier believes that both men and women have the right to sexual pleasure without being force to marry each other."

Enjolras stood silent while listening to her speaking.

"You don't want to get married?" he asked.

"No. I never wanted to." she answered, while walking arm-in-arm with him "Not even when I was a child and the older women were talked about getting married and having children… I never desired such things for myself. And what about you… Do you want to get married?"

"Of course not!" Enjolras answered "Even if the revolution succeeds, I don't see that happening."

"Sometimes I believe I was born in the wrong time…" Angélique sighed.

"And in what era would you like to be born in?"

"I don't know… Perhaps, in the ancient times of the Celts… When women were priestesses and went to battle beside men! I would have been a fearless warrior. But then, if I were to be born in another time I would never meet you…"

"And how would it be?" Enjolras asked with wit, raising his eyebrow.

"A tragedy!" Angélique shouted with a large smile. "How couldn't it be…? I came alive in the moment my lips touched yours."

"Is that so?" Enjolras grabbed her face between his hands and smiled "I wish I was Prouvaire and had the talent of poetry… I would write such beautiful poems for you."

"I don't need poems." she said "I just need your own words."

She stopped walking and gazed at him, with passion in her semblance.

"Please… kiss me…" she whispered.

Enjolras grabbed her by the arm and took her behind a large column of a house: he, gently, pushed her against the cold stone and, embracing her waist, he kissed her, passionately and intensively, while her hands wandering his back, feeling the fabric of his coat. Enjolras kissed her neck with fervor and his hands penetrate her overcoat and caressed her waist.

"We should go home…" Angélique whispered against his lips.

"Yes… we should…"

But instead, Enjolras's hand pulled the skirt of her gown up and caressed the skin of her legs, looking into her eyes with a passionate desire.

She unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down, wrapping her legs around his waist. They knew they could be caught by someone, although they did not care about it. Enjolras entered her, roughly, and she moaned, almost silently, against his ear, with her fingers between his blonde curls. They were like shadows in the dark, the streets were empty and the people of Paris were sleeping.

* * *

**Translation (French – English) and Historical Facts:**

*** Jean-Jacques Rousseau **– The XVIII Genevan (Switzerland) philosopher, was one of the political philosophers that influenced the French Revolution. The character of Enjolras has a deep admiration for Rousseau and for Robespierre (the French Revolution politician).

******_** La Voix des Femmes **_– Meaning "_The Women's Voice_" was the first Feminist Daily newspaper in France, founded by Eugénie Niboyet and was published in 1848, in Paris. Feminists were on the rise in XIX century France and several newspapers and organizations appeared in 1848, after the revolution of 24 February. This was the newspaper Angélique referred to and it was getting trouble on being published because the XIX century conservative post-revolutionary France was not a favorable climate for Feminist ideals.

***** **_**Claire Démar**_ – Reference to the XIX century Feminist, who wrote the 1833 pamphlet about Women's Rights: _Appel au Peuple sur l'Affranchissement de la Femme (_in English:_ "Appeal to the People on the Emancipation of Women"). _

********_** Théorie des Quatre Mouvements et des Destinées Générales**_** – **Meaning "_Theory of the Four Movements and the General Destinies_", a 1808 book by the French philosopher Charles Fourier (1772 – 1837), an influential thinker who's social and moral views were held to be radical for the XIX century, but became main currents in modern society, for example his theory of «Free Love» during the 60's Hippie Love Revolution. He defended homosexuality and was against conservative politics. During the XVIII and XIX century he was a supporter of Women's Rights movement.

* * *

**I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews and for following! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	10. By The Passion and The Blood

**Chapter Ten**

_**BY THE PASSION AND THE BLOOD**_

* * *

Grantaire left Café Musain, grabbing a bottle of brandy in his right arm, and walked the streets, staggering because of the drunkenness. Despite of feeling sick, he drank another gulp of brandy. When he was almost reaching the end of the street he heard strange noises coming from the right corner; behind the porch of a house; the sound of people breathing heavily, hiding behind a stone column.

He went towards the sound, led by curiosity and peered into the dark: he saw a man's back, with his pants in his knees while a woman's legs were wrapped around his waist, covering his pale butt that was moving into her. Those blonde curls and red jacket were unmistakable: it was Enjolras. The drunken man walked, silently, towards them, while grinned at this scene, he thrust, silently, against the wall and watched them: he recognized Angélique's face, transfigured in delight, with her mouth open and moaning lowly, while Enjolras was kissing her neck, fervently.

"Ah-ah! Well, well… What do we have here?" Grantaire laughed "You must be really good at sex, Enjolras!

Enjolras look behind and faced the cynic Grantaire: the blonde young man was with terror spread all over his eyes and, immediately, pushed up his pants, while Angélique buttoned the top of her dress, hiding her breasts, and fixing her gown.

"Will you tell me I'm having hallucinations from the brandy?" Grantaire smirked "You're not a virgin after all, my dear Apollo."

"Grantaire…" Enjolras stuttered a little, in edge, for he did not know what to say.

"Oh God… How shameful!" Angélique whispered, hiding behind Enjolras; her face was red as his jacket.

"You don't need to say anything." Grantaire said "I apologize for interrupting your moment of pleasure, but I was not able to restrain my curiosity…"

"You shall not tell about this to anyone!" Enjolras asked with seriousness, walking towards him "You never saw this happening!"

"Are you threatening me, Enjolras?" Grantaire laughed. "What will you do if I tell anyone? Will you kill me? I just found all of this quite ironic!"

Angélique grabbed Enjolras's arm, preventing him to start a fight with Grantaire.

"He's drunk, Enjolras." she whispered into his ear "Please, let's go home."

"I may be drunk, but I can listen to you speaking." Grantaire said "She is right, Enjolras… You both should go home. I've always doubt you were a romantic fellow, but fucking with the _mademoiselle_ on the streets as if she were a whore… It's quite unpleasant!"

Enjolras tried to break free from Angélique's arms to punch Grantaire, but she was able to make him stay still.

"Don't…" she said.

"I don't understand how you can remain so serene when he is insulting you!" Enjolras said to her. "And you, Grantaire, one more word against her and I will leave you bleeding!"

"The shame of have been caught is enough!" Angélique said with seriousness "Don't start a street fight over it. Tomorrow he will not remember anything. Look at him… He's drunk and he will vomit anytime soon…"

"I don't forget anything!" Grantaire said, pointing his finger at her "But I will pretend I did."

Enjolras was furious, looking into Grantaire's eyes. Angélique pushed him by the arm, for them to go away from those streets.

"Ohh… That stare is piercing my soul, Enjolras!" Grantaire joked. "Don't need to look so bother, _mademoiselle_… A women's face transfigured in pleasure is nothing I've never seen before!"

"Grantaire." Angélique said with seriousness "Go home to get some rest, for you are drunk."

"I think I shall stop by the lovely ladies on the docks in my way home…" Grantaire grinned "You two have opened my appetite!"

Enjolras stared at him, furiously, and Angélique rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come along!" she said, pushing him by the arm.

An enraged Enjolras and a sarcastic Grantaire exchange deadly stares and Angélique took the young Apollo home, by his hand, not looking back.

* * *

For the next two months, Enjolras couldn't face Grantaire: during the Friends of the ABC's meetings, the leader ignored his presence, pretending he was not there and continuing his speeches and never directed his words to him. The memory of that night continued to haunt Enjolras like a phantom menace; therefore he never spoke of it again, not even to Angélique.

Angélique started feeling ill; first, she got the nauseas and her mornings and nights were passed vomiting, and then the dizziness came, she couldn't smell any strong scent because she would start vomiting. Angélique, worried, wrote to her grandfather; telling him about her health condition and he send an old doctor called Guillaume Beaufort to examine her and a maid, _Madame_ Loire, to look after her. This fact emphasized the discrepancy between the upper and the lower social classes in the eyes of Enjolras and gave him more determination for the planning of the revolution; for if Angélique was poor, she would have been left to die.

* * *

**Paris, France**

**April 10th, 1832**

* * *

It was midday and Enjolras went to Angélique's house, to see how she was: recently the doctor recommend for her to stay in bed, to rest. This was worrying Enjolras more that he would like to admit it and while him tried to focus on the revolution, his mind was always thinking about her and about her health, for he started worrying if she has some fatal disease. _Madame_ Loire opened the door for him.

"Come with me, _Monsieur_." the old-women said with seriousness "She's upstairs, in her room."

"How is she, _Madame_?"

"She needs to rest." she answered "Please, do not let her anxious. And remember that I'm being dishonest to my patron by allowing your current visits."

_Madame_ Loire guided Enjolras to climb the stairs to the upper rooms.

"I'm very fond of her." Enjolras remarked.

"And she's very fond of you." _Madame_ Loire said, looking down upon him "That is what frets me… What do you for a living?"

"I'm studying at the University, here, in Paris."

"Studying what?"

"Law." Enjolras answered.

"Hmm, if you are studying at the University you must be wealthy." she remark "Perhaps you'll please the _Monsieur_, after all..."

"The _Monsieur_!?" Enjolras didn't understand about who she was talking about.

"_Monsieur_ Apollinaire Beaulincourt-Marle, the patron." _Madame_ Loire answered. "The _mademoiselle_'s grandfather."

This was the first time Enjolras hear her surname; her name was Angélique Beaulincourt-Marle.

"Don't you worry, the _Monsieur_ is not here in Paris, he's at his _château_*****, in Marseille. But it is not proper to me to make remarks on my patrons' lives…" she ended the conversation.

Once they reached the hallway,_ Madame_ Loire opened the door to Angélique's room. Enjolras entered the room and saw her, sitting on the bed, covered by the sheets: she was wearing a white nightgown, with her dark hair falling down her chest and her eyes lost in the window, in her face was a strange expression that Enjolras couldn't decipher. When Angélique saw him, she sketched a little smile on her face, but she wasn't joyful to see him as usual.

"You can go now, _Madame_ Loire." Angélique said, her tiredness was notorious "Thank you."

The old maid nodded and closed the door.

"How are you doing? Do you feel better?" Enjolras asked, sitting on the bed beside her and kissed her lips, gently.

She did not answer; her eyes looked at her hands, avoiding eye-contact with him.

"What's wrong?" Enjolras asked, caressing her forehead "You're cold… Are you alright? You seem to be in distress…"

But again Angélique did not reply; she was trembling and biting her lower lip.

"Tell me what's going on. What the doctor told you? You are worrying me…"

Enjolras caressed her face with tenderness but it didn't make her more comfortable, on the contrary, she seemed to grow more anxious.

"I'm pregnant…" she assumed in agony.

The blonde young man looked at her in panic.

"Are you sure?" Enjolras shuttered in nervousness.

"Yes… The doctor confirmed it this morning."

"How many months pregnant are you?"

"Three months, he said…" Angélique answered "Oh, God… What are we going to do? I can't have a child right now! No artist will ever accept teaching me with a child in my arms!"

Enjolras took a deep breath and passed his hand in his face, for he was distressed.

"Say something, please…" she begged, staring at him and noticing his concern.

"What do you want me to say?" Enjolras asked "This should be a happy moment for us but… It's the wrong time… The revolution is near and I might not come out aliv…"

"Don't you dare saying it!" Angélique interrupted him, holding his hand, tightly "Don't you dare saying that you will die, because I won't allow it to happen…"

"But it might happen…" Enjolras recalled, trembling "Does your family know?"

"No!" she denied "And I begged Doctor Beaufort not to tell them... If my grandfather finds out I'm pregnant I will have to return to Marseille... To be locked away in that horrible countryside lifestyle… And I will return to those awful balls and to those asphyxiating corsets! I shall never be free again… And they will want to find me a husband who doesn't mind about my bastard child but to who my family's money will be a good servant."

Enjolras stared at her and, for the first time, he did not think about the revolution being ruined about her pregnancy; for also she will suffer the heavy consequences.

"Forgive me, my love…" he asked, kissing her hand "I was being so selfish…"

"How being concerned with the People makes you a selfish person?" she asked with tears in her eyes "How did this happen to us? The child of our love should be a happy breeze… Although, yes, the time is wrong… How will I be able to join you at the barricades in this condition?"

"Join me at the barricades!?" Enjolras repeated with disbelief and rose from the bed "Certainly that idea didn't cross your mind!"

"But of course it has! Did you expect I would abandon all of you when the revolution would begin? Of course not! My fellows and I have been working for the same goal as you all along these past months."

"Don't be foolish!" Enjolras was enraged "I would never allow you to join us at the barricades!"

"Why is that?" Angélique asked, also, in rage "Because I'm a woman? You think that we, women, are so weak that we can't fight along men?"

"Because I love you."

Angélique stared at him: for it was the first time she heard those words from his mouth.

"You may think of me as a wealthy girl but I'm not fragile." she said, with serenity "I would, gladly, join you at the barricades and fight beside you. But now I can't. I will have to be here, lying down all day, because it is the doctor's prescription. While you are out there, fighting for freedom and risking your live for what we believe in!"

"And I'm grateful to your doctor for that prescription!" he sighed "I promised I would keep you safe and that's what I intend to do. I can't think of you as a "wealthy girl" for I'm also a wealthy person myself. But your death is not necessary for the revolution."

"And yours is?"

"I don't know my Fate." Enjolras declared "I don't know what tomorrow will bring… The time for the barricades to rise is a mystery; it all depends on Lamarque's death, for he is the only person in the government that stands for the people."

"I know that! But, today I know what tomorrow will bring…" Angélique said, caressing her belly. "What will be of him? Of our child? Without a father…"

Enjolras looked at her belly with sadness, and sat beside her.

"You talk with such certainty about my death…"

"I'm talking about that terrifies me…" she confessed "And my only wish is that I'm not talking about facts!"

"Is your belly getting larger?"

"Not much for now." Angélique said with a little smile "It's more rounded but the pregnancy still doesn't shows."

"Can I… touch it?" Enjolras shuttered.

"Of course! You are the father!" Angélique smiled while taking his hand and placed it above her belly.

"I still don't believe it…" Enjolras sighted "That I'm going to be a father! A father to a child! Oh, my…"

Angélique caressed his distressed face.

"You seem so tired…" she said.

"And I am." Enjolras confirmed "The meetings have been exhausting… Combeferre brings new plans for me to study every night… And I've been so worried about you and your health… I've been sleeping so little…"

"You shouldn't be." Angélique said "I have Doctor Beaufort and _Madame_ Loire to look after me. Don't agonize about my health… For you have greater things right now. You have a revolution to be won… Please, focus on the revolution and succeed. When all of this is over, we can start thinking about the baby."

"You are so good to me, Angélique." he said, caressing her neck and staring into her eyes.

They were about to kiss when _Madame_ Loire opened the door and, deliberately, cleared her throat to made them apart.

"Hmm, hmm! _Monsieur_, I'm afraid you will have to leave. The _mademoiselle_ needs to rest."

Enjolras sighted and rolled his eyes and placed a kiss upon her forehead, caressing her hair, while she smiled to him.

"Goodbye." he said to her "I shall go now. But I will come back, I promise."

"Bye…" Angélique smiled, sadly.

Enjolras went towards _Madame_ Loire and before leaving the room, glanced at Angélique with a smile.

"And you, _mademoiselle_, get some rest!" the old woman said.

"Can you bring me my watercolors, please?" she asked. "I would like to paint…"

"Of course, _mademoiselle_."

"Keep me company, please, _Madame_ Loire." Angélique asked "I'm tired of being on my own."

* * *

**Translation (French – English) and Historical Facts:**

*****_**Château**_** – **A château is a sort of a castle, a manor house or the residence of the Lord of the manor. Or, like in this case, it is the countryside house of a noble family.

* * *

**I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Let me know your opinion and if I've made some grammatical mistakes, please, let me know.**

**Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews! You've been too kind! And for following, of course! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	11. What Have I Done?

**Chapter Eleven**

_**WHAT HAVE I DONE?**_

* * *

When the Friends of the ABC meeting ended, Enjolras raised from his chair and went towards Joly. Molière's _Malade Imaginaire_*** **was not a company that Enjolras often seeks, but they were all family and in this case, Joly was the right person to help him. He spent the afternoon wondering about Angélique's pregnancy and about all the situations that could happen to them.

"Joly, can I have a word with you?" Enjolras asked.

The medical student seemed surprised by Enjolras's request.

"With me!?" Joly shuttered, pointing at himself.

"Yes." he confirmed "In private, please."

"I did nothing wrong!" Joly was terrified "If it is because I've sterilized all the cups in this room I did it because of the bacteria! Can you imagine all the diseases we could get for drinking from each other's cups?"

"You did what!? Fine, look, I don't care about the cups!" Enjolras sighted, trying to reassure him. "Come with me!"

Joly followed Enjolras to the left corner of the room, while Combeferre and Courfeyrac seemed surprised by this.

"So… what do you want to talk to me about?" Joly asked.

"You shall not comment this conversation I'm about to have with you with anyone." Enjolras asked "Nor will you do any questions about it."

Joly nodded in "yes".

"So… You are a medical student… What do you know about pregnancy?"

The young man looked at Enjolras with disbelief; he didn't believe he was asking him this.

"Why do you want to know about pregnancy!?"

"I said: no questions about it!" Enjolras said with seriousness "But… if you ask… A… cousin… of mine is pregnant and she's here in Paris and I want to provide her with my help… So I need to know what to do."

"I didn't know you had a cousin here in Paris!"

"I don't exactly talk that much about my family!" Enjolras rolled his eyes, impatience "Will you help me or not?"

"Fine… I will help, of course." Joly agreed "Do you want me to exam her?"

"No, no, no!" Enjolras declined "She already has a doctor! I just need your medical advices for dealing with the situation!"

"Advices!? What for?" Joly didn't understand. "If your cousin already has a doctor taking care of her, why would you bother? You seem nervous… Do you want me to exam you? You might be ill!"

"I'm not ill, Joly!" Enjolras said "Just, please, tell me... What can I do to help a pregnant woman? Is there anything I can't do near her or something?"

"Err… She must rest quite a lot… Don't make her feel anxious or nervous…" Joly begun "It's important for her not to work and to stay in a clean environment, although poor women have difficulties in arrange for that, but if she's your cousin, that mustn't be the case… Just don't make her nervous!"

"Is that the only thing I can do?" Enjolras said in disappointment.

"Well, yes!" Joly said "Once you're not the father, there is nothing else for you to do."

"And imagining if I was the father…" Enjolras said but Joly looked at him with suspicious and disgust "No! I'm not the father! Christ! I would never impregnate my cousin! But my cousin's husband is lost, as well… What can he do?"

"Well, I've never gave assistance to a pregnant woman… But I once talked to a Doctor about it and he said that when woman are pregnant they get very needy…"

"Needy for what?" Enjolras asked.

"Affection, food, attention, sleep… Generally they start getting this strange desire for one food in particular." Joly described "It is important that she rests and remains joyful during the pregnancy, otherwise, if a pregnant woman gets too anxious, she may lose the baby."

"Is that possible to happen?" Enjolras asked in concern. "Lose the baby?"

"Yes." the medical student confirmed "If the woman has health problems or if she's put under too much distress during her pregnancy."

"Thank you…" Enjolras expressed his gratitude and gave him a little pat on his back.

"Are you alright?" Bahorel asked to Enjolras "You seem a little pale…"

"I'm just tired, that's all."

"You should go for a walk." Bahorel advised "You know what they say: to err is human, but to loaf is Parisian."

"I'm not in the mode for walks." Enjolras said.

"You are never in the mode for walks!" Courfeyrac laughed.

"I think I shall go." the blonde young man said "I will finish the texts for the pamphlets at home."

"Stay a bit more and drink with us." Combeferre asked.

"No, thank you." Enjolras answered "I crave for a quiet atmosphere for writing. Well, good night, everyone…"

The blonde young man went downstairs.

"Joly!" Combeferre called.

"Yes?" the medical student run towards the second leader.

"What did Enjolras talked to you about?"

"Nothing special." Joly said "He just wanted some medical advices."

"Medical advices for what!?" Combeferre was indignant.

"I apologize but I won't tell you." Joly said "Enjolras asked me not to comment this with anyone else."

"No problem, my dear friend." the second leader nodded. "I admire your loyalty, Joly. It's good to know we have loyal comrades."

Joly shrugged his shoulders, blushing with Combeferre's complement.

* * *

Enjolras arrived to Angélique's house and knocked on the door. After five minutes of waiting, he was received by a severe _Madame_ Loire; the old maid was looking at him, with a disapproving expression upon her face. The woman was, clearly, not amused by his presence there, as always, but tonight, she was, particularly, rigorous.

"_Monsieur_, do you know what time is it? It's too late for visits!" _Madame_ Loire blocked his way. "The _mademoiselle_ needs to rest!"

"Please… Allow me to see her." Enjolras asked. "I've promised her that I would come back today."

"It's past midnight, _Monsieur_." the old-woman replied "A woman in her condition must rest!"

"Let him come in, _Madame_ Loire…" Angélique said from the top of the stairs.

"_Mademoiselle_, what are you doing awake at this hour of night? The Doctor said…"

"I know, exactly, what the Doctor said!" she confirmed "I'm pregnant, I'm not dying! Let him come in…"

The old maid seemed unpleased with the situation, but opened passage for Enjolras to come in and he went upstairs.

"This is a disgrace…" _Madame_ Loire remarked between the teeth.

Angélique grab his hand and took Enjolras to her room. She closed the door and pushed him against the wall, her hungry lips kissed him, passionately, moaning against his mouth, and her hands were caressing his back and his arms. Her lips went down to his neck, while touching the skin of his chest.

"What are you doing?" Enjolras whispered.

"What do you think I'm doing?" she asked with a smile, while unbuttoning his shirt.

"Angélique… We can't do this…" Enjolras, gently, grabbed her arms, trying to make her stop.

"Why not?" she asked and stepped aside from him.

"Because you are pregnant." he answered "It can harm the baby…"

"You don't desire me, anymore?" Angélique asked with a tearful voice.

"Of course I do!" Enjolras guaranteed, caressing her face "But, like I've said, it can harm the baby… I don't want you to lose our child…"

"I won't lose our child, my love…" Angélique smiled "I can be pregnant but I still have _certain_ needs…"

"Do you need anything? Are you hungry for something?" Enjolras asked, remembering Joly's advices.

"I'm hungry for your warmth." she whispered into his ear.

"I'm not mocking, Angélique." he said with disquiet "There is anything you _really_ need?"

"Neither am I, Enjolras. I've already said to you what I need… I don't know why I'm feeling so… Why I'm feeling this way! I just need to have you close to me…"

"But the baby…"

"I don't think it will harm him." she interrupted him with serenity in her voice "Look at my belly… So small…"

"Don't be so stubborn, please."

"I don't know which day can be our last, that's all…" Angélique said with sadness.

"Not that conversation again… please!" Enjolras rolled his eyes.

"Yes! That conversation again!" she market out. "Your death haunts me in my sleep…"

"I'm tired of this conversation!" he shouted, interrupting her "I'm not your father!"

Angélique looked at him with tears forming in her eyes, and stepped aside, nodding her head, like she could not believe in the words she just heard.

"Leave…" she whispered.

"I apologize!" Enjolras shuttered "I was not thinking about my words. Please, forgive me…"

"Leave."

"Angélique…"

"Leave!" she cried-out "_Madame_ Loire!"

"Please, Angélique!" he begged "I shouldn't have said that… Forgive m…"

"_Madame_ Loire!" she screamed. "Leave me alone…"

"Angélique, please… Can we have a proper conversation?"

"Leave me alone! I don't want to look at your face!" Angélique said, pushing him away "Leave! _Madame_ Loire!"

"You must calm down, Angélique." Enjolras recalled. "You can't feel anxious. Please, I didn't mean to upset you with my reckless words… Forgive me."

_Madame_ Loire opened the door, with a furious expression upon her face; the old-woman was already in a nightgown, covered by a large and heavy robe.

"What is going on here?" the old woman shouted.

"_Madame_ Loire, can you please escort this _Monsieur_ downstairs?" Angélique asked with a serene voice, trying to hide her tearful face with her hand.

"Angélique…" Enjolras whispered.

"Come with me, _Monsieur_." Madame Loire grabbed his arm "It's late and the _mademoiselle_ desires to rest."

"Please…" Enjolras said to Angélique, but she turned her back on him.

_Madame_ Loire closed Angélique's room door and demand Enjolras to walk down the stairs.

"You've heard the _mademoiselle_, _Monsieur_." she said "Leave this house."

Enjolras nodded and took a deep breath, and went downstairs, _Madame_ Loire followed him and closed the door, behind him. His chest was full of regret because of his impulsive behavior; he did not want to make Angélique feel anxious about the menace of his death, but the solution was even worst. Enjolras knew how much Angélique loves her deceased father but in the impulse of the situation those awful words came out of his mouth.

* * *

During the next week, Enjolras went to Angélique's house and knock on the door every single day; he screamed, he shouted, he punched the door… But no one opened the door for him. He started feeling desperate; for he wanted to know how she was doing and if the baby was alright, but he didn't receive any news from Angélique.

Saturday morning, _Madame_ Loire, finally, opened the door for him, but the old woman, serious and severe as always, said to him:

"The _mademoiselle_ was no wishes to see you again, _Monsieur_. Don't bother to come back. Have a good day. Excuse me."

"But…"

The old woman didn't allow Enjolras to finish his sentence and closed the door, leaving him breathless and in grief.

* * *

**Translation (French – English) and Historical Facts:**

*****_**La Malade Imaginaire**_** – **Meaning "_The Imaginary Invalid_", is a 1673 three-act _comédie-ballet_ by French playwright Molière. The play tells the story of an old man who believes he's ill but he is not. In the book, _Les Misérables_, Victor Hugo also uses these Theatre reference to describe Joly.

* * *

**I apologize I didn't update a new chapter yesterday, but I had no time to finishing the writing of the Eleven Chapter, but here it is. Sorry for keeping you wait!**

**I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews! You've been too kind! And for following, of course! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	12. Fallen from Grace

**Chapter Twelve**

_**FALLEN FROM GRACE**_

* * *

**May 15th, 1832**

**Paris, France**

* * *

Angélique was placed upon her bed, with her eyes full of tears. It was been one month and fifteen days since the last time she saw Enjolras. Her pride did not allow her to go to him, begging for his return. Her belly was getting bigger, but when she wears large gowns, the pregnancy is invisible. She started taking walks with _Madame_ Loire, because spending her days locked in the house was asphyxiating for her; in her chest always remained the desire of an encounter with Enjolras on the street, but that never happened.

"_Mademoiselle_…" _Madame_ Loire called, standing next to the door.

"Yes?" Angélique shuttered because of her tears.

"A message arrived from your grandfather."

"You can read it to me…" she asked without expression on her voice.

"It's not a letter, _mademoiselle_." Madame Loire informed "_Monsieur_ Beaulincourt-Marle sent a pageboy."

"I don't feel like receiving anyone today."

"You say that every day, _mademoiselle_…" _Madame_ Loire sighed "Allow the boy to come in… It can be an important message from the _Monsieur_."

"Fine." Angélique breathed-out "Let him in…"

A redhead young man, in his twenties, come in to the room and performed a bow to Angélique; she looked at him with the same among of amusement and interest as she was looking at the window before.

"What do you have to tell me, _Monsieur_?"

"_Mademoiselle_, I'm here to inform you about a decision made by _Monsieur_ Beaulincourt-Marle, your dearest grandfather." the young man started with a mechanic voice "The _Monsieur_ was informed about the _mademoiselle's_ current health condition. The _Monsieur_ declares that she shall remain in Paris until the childbirth."

"What!?" Angélique shuttered, breathless, feeling the dagger of betray carved into her chest.

"If the _mademoiselle's_ child is a girl, she shall be delivered to the _Couvent du Petit-Picpus_*, where she shall be raised and educated by the nuns." the pageboy continued with his mechanic tone, ignoring her questions "The _Monsieur_ also informs the _mademoiselle_ about her future marriage to Barthélemy Benoît-Campion, an wine merchant from Bordeaux. Do not fear, _mademoiselle_, _Monsieur_ Benoît-Campion is a wealthy man. Nothing will be lacking to your happiness."

"Nothing will be lacking to my happiness!?" Angélique repeated, with tears on her eyes "Tell my grandfather I won't marry that man. Nor will I give my child away!"

The pageboy left the room.

"_Mademoiselle_, please, calm down…" _Madame_ Loire interfered "You can't be this nervous…"

"Please, tell me you did not, _Madame_ Loire…" Angélique grabbed the old woman by her arms "That you did not reported me to my grandfather… You couldn't…"

"Report, _mademoiselle_?" _Madame_ Loire laughed "Oh, whoever hears you speaking in such terms would assume you're talking about the National Guard and not about your grandfather…"

"Answer me!" Angélique said with serious and staring into her eyes "Did you report me or didn't you?"

"Yes, I did, _mademoiselle_." The old woman confessed "But it was for your own good."

Angélique step aside from her, with a shocked expression upon her face.

"Was it? An arranged marriage with some bourgeois man from Bordeaux? My child to be taken away from me and raised by the nuns?"

"Imagine the disgrace you would cause to your family, _mademoiselle_!" _Madame_ Loire said "And the shame that would fall upon you with a bastard child in your arms… Your grandfather is only doing what is best for you."

Angélique cleaned the tears that were falling from her face.

"The tragedy is that you are right, _Madame_ Loire…"

"Our only wish, mine and your family's, is to protect you…" the old maid said with tenderness.

Angélique said no more; she turned her back on _Madame_ Loire and stood by the window.

At nightfall, Angélique swallowed her pride and waited for _Madame_ Loire bedtime hour; for she knew how early the old woman usually goes to bed. When she was sure the old maid was asleep in her room, the young woman gather some gowns, underwear, blank papers, charcoal and a two books and arranged her bag. Angélique dressed a long and dark cloak and, grabbing her bag, she run away into the empty and dark streets of Paris.

"I swear by all the stars in heavens that you will not grow up far away from me, my child…" Angélique whispered, caressing her belly.

* * *

Angélique arrived to Café Musain; she could hear the male laughs on the first floor, at the wine shop, near the Friends of the ABC's secret meeting room. The young woman search for Louison and found the middle-age woman washing dishes on the Café's kitchen.

"_Madame_ Louison…" she called, warily.

"Yes?" Louison said, looking around, searching for the voice who called her, until she found Angélique staring at her "Oh! _Mademoiselle_… Long time no see! I remember you well!"

Angélique smiled with shyness.

"Is there anything I can do for you, my dear?" Louison asked.

"I need to talk to _Monsieur_ Enjolras." Angélique answered.

"_Monsieur_ Enjolras is at the meeting." the middle-age woman said, while cleaning the dishes "You know it's impossible to get him out of there, now… I'm afraid you will have to wait."

"I don't mind waiting…" Angélique said.

"You can sit down…" Louison smiled "You look tired, my dear… Why are you carrying a bag?"

"It's nothing important… Only a few pamphlets…" Angélique lied.

"Do you want to eat something? I have soup and bread… It's not much but it satisfies the hunger."

"I will accept, thank you."

Louison served Angélique and sat beside her; the two women talked until the meeting was over. The brunette saw all the familiar faces of the Friends of the ABC coming downstairs and smiling at Louison and greeting her; they did not recognize Angélique, because of her tired and swell face from the pregnancy. She saw the blonde leader passing by: he was the last one leaving the room.

"Enjolras!"

Angélique run after him, to the outside. The blonde young man looked at her, with an astonished expression; he could not believe his eyes.

"What are you doing here!?"

"Why you didn't come to see me?" Angélique asked, coming closer to him.

"You said you didn't wish to see me again." the young man replied "Why would I go to your house if you would send me away?"

"I was such a fool… Please, forgive me…" Angélique whispered, caressing his hair.

"I haven't seen you in a month, Angélique…" Enjolras said, stepping away from her.

"Did you find yourself another woman?" she said with scorn.

"Of course not!" Enjolras answered in a serious tone. "I'm completely committed to the revolution and that's how I intend to remain."

Angélique remained silenced, staring at the dark and dirty floor.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked looking at the bag in her hand.

"I've run away."

"Why would you do such thing?" Enjolras asked with disapproval "A woman in your condition can't be wandering around on these streets. It's dangerous!"

"I'm tired of that talk of «a woman in your condition»…" Angélique said, enraged "Everyone treats me like if I were dying…"

"Was that the reason why you've run away?" Enjolras interrupted her, with sarcasm.

"I thought you knew me better..." Angélique nodded in disappointment "Of course that was not the reason. _Madame_ Loire told my grandfather about my pregnancy... And he sent a pageboy with a message to me, the boy arrived this afternoon, and my grandfather commands that I shall remain in Paris until the childbirth."

"And… What will happen? After the childbirth?... What will happen to our child?" Enjolras asked with concern.

"Our child will grow up with me." Angélique said with determination "I shall not allow my family to close her in a Convent!"

"Her? It's a girl?" Enjolras asked, confused "Please, calm down… I'm trying to follow your thoughts. Who wants to lock our child in a Convent?"

"I don't know if it's a boy or a girl." she answered "My grandfather. He said if the child is a girl, she shall be raised by the nuns of the _Couvent du Petit-Picpus_, here, in Paris."

"And if the child is a boy?..."

"He didn't say anything about that possibility." Angélique said "No one will hurt our child. Not as long as I'm alive."

"And what of your fate?..." Enjolras asked.

"My grandfather found me a suitable husband." Angélique said with sarcasm "A wine merchant from Bordeaux… He's a wealthy man. And my grandfather said that nothing will be lacking to my happiness!"

Enjolras stared at her with a spark of sadness into his blue eyes.

"I won't marry him…" she whispered.

"That's why you've run away?" it was a rhetorical question.

"I refuse to marry anyone else because my heart belongs to you." Angélique said, staring into his eyes.

"I thought you didn't want to get married."

"And I don't." Angélique said "But if I wanted to get married, I would marry you."

Enjolras took a deep breath and restrained himself from not kissing her there, on the streets, for he remembered as last time went.

"You will stay in my apartment." Enjolras informed "You did not think I would leave you on the streets, did you? Come with me… We shall go home. It's late and you need to rest."

"I surely had enough emotions for one day…" she sighed.

* * *

Although, when Enjolras and Angélique arrived at his apartment, they did not rest. The blonde young man forgot his fears about hurting the baby, that was growing inside of her, and made love to her all night, making up for the wasted months.

"This is my happiness…" Angélique moaned into his ear. "Here, in your embrace…"

His strong arms held her waist and his hands felt her skin, while trusted his hips, roughly, into her.

"Don't you ever send me away, again…" he whispered in her neck, kissing her skin.

"Never!" Angélique cried-out, while her fingers digging deep into his bare chest. "I want to make love to you until sunrise..."

* * *

**Translation (French – English) and Historical Facts:**

* _**Couvent du Petit-Picpus**_** – **meaning "_Convent of Petit-Picpus_", is a fictional Convent in "_Les Misérables_", located in _Rue de Picpus_, in Paris. It is the same Convent where Cosette spent her late childhood and teenage years with Jean Valjean.

* * *

**I'm sorry for keeping you waiting! This week was been really busy for me and I could not find the time to write a new chapter every day. I apologize… **

**I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued.**

**Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews! You've been too kind! And for following, of course! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	13. I Dreamed a Dream

**Chapter Thirteen**

_**I DREAMED A DREAM**_

* * *

A new dawn was rise. Enjolras embraced Angélique, while her head was resting on his naked chest, her fingers drawing imaginary circles in his skin. His blue eyes were lost in the ceiling: he was thinking about the revolution, about the menace of his death and what would happen to Angélique afterwards. What if he survives? Enjolras felt puzzled.

"What if they find me and take me away?" she asked.

"Who?" Enjolras frowned.

"My family." Angélique answered "They are looking for me, certainly… _Madame_ Loire wakes up early… She must have warned my grandfather about my escape."

"Everything is falling apart." Enjolras said "The Law is tightening the siege, every day more and more people are joining us, the revolution is imminent… And now, you've run away and you are here at my house… The foolish things we do for love…"

"If you don't want me here and can go elsewhere." Angélique said, sitting on the bed and staring at him with seriousness.

"I've not said that." Enjolras remarked "I've promised that I would protect you and…

"I don't need protection!"

"I have to disagree." the blonde young man sat beside her and caressed her face "I know it is hard for you to be in this position and to feel vulnerable… But you are pregnant, and now you are fragile, despite of your strength. You _need_ protection. I'm just afraid that I'm not being able to provide it to you…"

"Don't worry about such things…" Angélique asked "I've told you once and I'll tell you again: focus on the revolution and succeed. No harm will come to me as long as I'm here, at your house."

"What if the Law comes here and arrests you? That's my greatest fear…"

"And why would that happen?"

"The Friends of the ABC plot against the King." Enjolras recalled "If they discover us, we'll be accused of treason and executed… They can find my house and come here, searching. And if they do come here, they will find you, alone and defenseless."

"You fret too much, Enjolras." Angélique said with a light smile "That's very unlikely to happen."

"But it _can_ happen…"

"It's a remote possibility, not a certainty." she said, caressing his chest "Look at me… Do you see fear within my eyes?"

"No…" Enjolras stared into her eyes "But you are foolish… Wise, yes, but foolish."

"There is nothing to be afraid of." Angélique remarked "You are not afraid to die… Why do you fear my death?"

"Because I love you…" Enjolras whispered, against her lips, and kissed her. "Love can make strange things to a man, even to the coldest one. If anyone would want to hurt me, they cannot find out about you… You are my weakness…"

"Your weakness?" Angélique laughed with scorn.

"It was a compliment."

"I don't see how being a weakness can be a compliment…"

"Words are often misunderstood." Enjolras said "I'm simply saying that no one is more important to me than you."

"No one is going to hurt me, Enjolras. I begged you, please, stop worry your mind." Angélique asked "Focus on the revolution you'll have to battle. What I would give to be part of it…"

"You can't join us, you know that…" he recalled "Your condition does not permit it."

Enjolras placed his hand upon her pregnant belly.

"It's getting larger."

"Yes…" Angélique smiled "But there are still six months for him to be born…"

"If you are implying that you could join us at the barricades…"

"And why not?" she interrupted him "I can fight! I'm a pregnant woman, not a cripple."

"We had this conversation before, Angélique." Enjolras said with seriousness "I won't allow it. The barricades are not a place for a pregnant woman! The National Guard would show no mercy on you just because of your condition. You were to be seen as a traitor, like the rest of us. You would suffer the same fate as the rest of us…"

Angélique took a deep breath.

"Be patient, my love." Enjolras begged, embracing her "You are a wise young woman… I know you understand why I don't want you to join us."

"And what if I wasn't pregnant?" she asked "Would you allow me to join you at the barricades?"

"That's not the case…"

"You didn't answer to my question." Angélique remarked "Would you allow it?"

"I couldn't stop you." Enjolras answered "But you are pregnant. For your safety and for the safety of our unborn child, you mustn't. It's too dangerous."

"It's dangerous for everyone, not just for me."

"You really are a stubborn person…"

"So do you!" Angélique said, looking at his face and kissing his cheek.

"I'm sure he'll be stubborn as well." Enjolras smiled, caressing her belly.

"Or she."

"Would you prefer the baby to be a boy or a girl?"

"That doesn't matter to me." Angélique answered "Boy or girl… This child will be loved. And will not be taken away from me. I won't allow it."

"I'm sure you won't." Enjolras whispered into her ear "You are a true warrior…"

"Ah! Like the ones in the Ancient North tales?" Angélique laughed "When I was a child I loved hearing those stories… My mother used to read them to me when it was bedtime. I want to do the same with my child…"

"I will tell him stories of France."

"Why I don't find that surprising?" she smiled "You will sing _La Marseillaise_ to the child as a lullaby, I'm sure!"

"No, I won't!" Enjolras laughed "Stop mocking me…"

"This child will change our lives." Angélique said with soberness "It already has change mine…"

Enjolras kissed her shoulder and hold her strongly in his arms.

* * *

**June 1th, 1832**

**Paris, France**

* * *

"At Notre Dame and at rue de Bac the sections are preparing." Combeferre informed "Students, workers, beggars… Paris is coming to our side. They are all ready and waiting for our call."

"Those are excellent news, my dear friend." Enjolras said "The time for the barricades to rise is near... The Law can sense it and so do we. But we will succeed, I'm certain. Although, the National Guard will be a dangerous and tough foe for us…"

"We have enough weapons to defeat them." Combeferre assured "And we have the People on our side. With Paris behind us, yes, we will succeed."

"We need a sign…" Enjolras declared "To gather the People and to call them to join us and fight along us."

The noise of a bottle crashing into the floor invaded the room; Enjolras and Combeferre turned and looked at a bewildered Marius.

"Marius, you're late!" Enjolras said in a severe tone.

"I apologize… I've been… Oh, never mind!" the young man said, although his eyes were lost and dreamy.

Enjolras rolled his eyes and continued his conversation with Combeferre.

"What's wrong today, Marius?" Joly asked with concern "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Oh, a ghost you say…" Marius said, smiling "A ghost maybe… I was leaving my house when I saw her on the street… And when I looked again, she'd disappeared. She was a ghost indeed…"

"I'm not following…" Joly said.

"I've seen the most beautiful young woman this afternoon…" Marius sighed "She had long, blonde hair and flowers on her bonnet…"

"Oh, la, la!" Grantaire laughed "I can't believe what I'm hearing! Is Marius in love at last?"

"What's her name?" Prouvaire asked, with interest.

"I don't know…" Marius said. "I didn't have time to speak to her."

"Aw, how passionate! Love at first sight!" Prouvaire smiled, enchanted "What a romantic fellow you are, Marius!"

Marius smiled, blushing.

"Ah-ah! You talk of battles to be won…" Grantaire said to Enjolras "And Marius here is Dom Juan, longing to conquer his damsel's heart! I bet no written Opera is better than this!"

Enjolras come closer to them.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Marius is in love!" Joly laughed.

"With a woman he saw today and he does not even know her name. Isn't it lovely?" Prouvaire sighed.

But Enjolras did not found it amusement; his semblance was severe.

"It is time for us all to decide who we are." he say with seriousness "Have you ask of yourself what the price you might pay when the revolution comes?"

"I know all of that." Marius asked.

"I'm not so sure if you know." the leader declared "We don't have time to be fooling around nor have our heads focusing on other minor things!"

"If you were there today you might also know how it feels! How everything can change so suddenly and your whole world begins to crumble. Oh, if you ever knew…"

"If I ever knew what?" Enjolras asked, coming closer to Marius, with a threaten expression upon his face.

"Love." Marius answered.

Enjolras smirked and nodded his head.

"You know nothing, Marius." the blonde young man said "You don't know what sacrifice means. You're nothing but a rich boy with wishes of becoming a hero and disobeying his family."

"You are a rich boy too, Enjolras." Marius remarked "We are not as different from each other as you might think."

"But we are." Enjolras said "And we are standing at the brick of revolution…"

"Oh, quit it already, Enjolras!" Grantaire interrupted him "The boy's in love. What's so wrong with that?"

Enjolras didn't answer nor faced Grantaire.

"Marius, you're no longer a child." Enjolras faced Marius "And I don't doubt your sudden feelings for a young woman you don't even know are true… But now we strive towards a larger goal and our little lives don't count at all."

"She is beautiful like angels!" Marius insisted "I feel my soul on fire! I've never felt this way before… Oh, her blonde hair… I wish I could feel the perfume of that hair…"

Enjolras stared at Marius with a mist of disapproval and scorn.

"Marius, we have higher matters to discuss tonight."

"Believe me, Enjolras…" the young man smiled "If only you could see her… You would understand why I'm feeling this way. I can't stop thinking about her…"

"Do you think I care for women in such times?" the leader said in a severe tone "The People of France are more important than our solitude! If you want to be in love, fine. But don't allow it to interfere with your head! I need you to be focus on our plans, right now."

"You don't understand the poetry of love…"

"And you don't understand life!" Enjolras said.

All the students exchanged concerned glances with each other, while Grantaire, drinking from his bottle, was grinning like a fool.

"Tell me more about this lovely lady of yours, Marius." Grantaire asked.

For the first time in months, Enjolras looked at Grantaire with a deadly stare, censuring him for encouraging Marius.

The young man didn't stopped talking about his "dashing angel on the street" during the entire meeting and this made Enjolras furious; he could stop feeling enraged, because Marius couldn't separate duty from love. Combeferre and Feuilly were discussing about the streets they would occupy and Courfeyrac was giving information about the guns, while Marius couldn't stop talking about his love and Enjolras could no longer hear the words "blonde" and "angel".

"Gavroche!" Courfeyrac called, when he saw the little boy standing at the door. "Come on in! What news do you bring?"

"General Lamarque is dead." Gavroche announced.

All students raised from the table, shocked and exchanging glances with each others, then, finally, all the eyes turned to Enjolras.

"Lamarque… His death is the sign we await." the leader said.

"His funeral will be at June the Fifth." Gavroche said.

"On his funeral day, Paris will honor his name and the barricades shall rise." Enjolras said with triumph "The time is come for us to fight. Let us take to the streets with no doubt in our heart and welcome the revolution with courage and cheer."

"We must warn the People." Combeferre said "They will come when we call."

* * *

When the meeting was over, Grantaire walked towards Enjolras, at the corner of the room, holding his brandy bottle, as usual.

"Well, well, that was such a ravishing performance!" Grantaire smirked "I've almost believed you!"

Enjolras refused to face Grantaire.

"You are such a hypocrite, Enjolras…"

"I don't know what you are talking about." the blonde leader said in a severe tone, glancing at him.

"I'm talking about your secret _affair_, of course. Or have you forgotten that night? I'm sure you haven't… Poor, Marius… He's in love and you dare to condemn him."

"You are talking about different matters."

"Am I?" Grantaire laughed "What's the difference between you and Marius?"

"Marius spent the entire meeting talking about that girl!"

"He's not afraid to show his true feelings."

"The purpose of our meetings is not to show our feelings." Enjolras declared "I shall go home. I need to rest. And for the next days, you shall not drink… A drunken man will be useless on the barricades!"

"You'll go home and warmth your feet with your secret lover?" Grantaire smirked.

"I don't own you any satisfactions." Enjolras recalled "And put that bottle down!"

"Uh! There's no way I will fight against the National Guard sober! How boring would that be? Give me my brandy and shall cut off their heads!"

"I'm not giving you an advice; I'm giving you an order." he said "Put that bottle down for the next days. I won't allow any alcohol in the barricades."

"Advices and orders are all the same when they come from you, Enjolras."

Enjolras ignored his remark and greet everyone, then, went downstairs and walked home.

* * *

Angélique was five months pregnant; it was been a month since she was hiding in Enjolras' house. Meanwhile, she did not have any contact with the exterior world: she could only see Paris through the window. She was on the desk, drawing some portraits of unknown people she observed on the streets during the day. Those were her only occupations now: drawing and reading. When Enjolras arrived home, he kissed her lips, and caressed her shoulders, like he usually does.

"I'm so tired of spending my days locked in here." Angélique whispered in sadness "I feel like a cadged bird."

"Soon you'll no longer be locked in here." Enjolras smiled, caressing her neck.

"What do you mean?"

"General Lamarque is dead." he said "He's funeral will be at June the Fifth. In that day, the barricades shall rise."

"What?" Angélique raised from the desk. "I don't know if I should be joyful or gloomy about it."

"You should be glad." Enjolras smiled "The moment we've been waiting for was arrived."

"For "we" you mean the Friends of the ABC." she said "I will be locked in here while you and your fellows are out there fighting for freedom…"

"Angélique, please, we have talked about this too many times." he recalled "You know what my opinion is and I won't change it."

She took a deep breath, but her eyes started filling with tears.

"Why are you crying?" Enjolras asked, caressing her neck.

"You'll be gone…"

"Don't you fret, my love… I won't be gone for long. We have enough weapons and the People of Paris is on our side. We will succeed. Our child will born in a new country, free of misery."

"Once you said I was foolish… But now, the only fool I see in this room is you."

Enjolras hold her in his arms and cuddled her back and her hair.

"We still have four nights…"

He kissed her lips and embraced her, strongly, caressing her skin. Despite of her pregnancy, they could not stop themselves from making love. Angélique, specially, was more willing to do it, more than ever, like the pregnancy herself made her feel more sexual. Although, Angélique's pregnant belly was growing and they find it complicated to have sex in certain positions, they have learned how to adapt themselves to the situation. And now, more than ever before, they made love with an intense passion.

* * *

**I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued… The end of my story is near.**

**Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews! You've been too kind! And for following, of course! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	14. To the Barricades!

**Chapter Fourteen**

_**TO THE BARRICADES!**_

* * *

**June 5th, 1832**

**Paris, France**

* * *

"Today is the day…" Enjolras whispered. "I need to get dressed."

Enjolras rise from the bed, completely naked, and went towards his wardrobe. Angélique woke up and look at him, slowly and still sleepy. The day had not yet been born; it was dawn, the skies of Paris being to clear.

"Today is Lamarque's funeral." he declared "Today, France will begin to change as the barricades arise."

Angélique hold a large red piece of fabric and embrace herself with it, feeling the fabric within her fingers and her naked skin.

"There will be blood…" she whispered.

"Yes, there will." Enjolras stared at her, observing her with her red cloak.

"People will die and the blood will stain the streets of Paris." Angélique said, caressing the red fabric "Your life will be…"

"My life is blessed." he smiled "Today I will serve the purpose of my whole existence."

"And what will I do? I will remain here… Locked away from the world outside, like I've been all this past months. Is this the purpose of my life? Living in the same way as a prisoner?"

"I will give you back your freedom." Enjolras promised "When the revolution succeeds, you'll be free."

"Will you? Give me back my freedom?" Angélique laughed in scorn "You're the one who took it away from me…"

"Angélique, please… Don't argue with me. Not today!"

"I'm not arguing with you."

"Oh, aren't you?" Enjolras said "You're accusing me of stealing your freedom! If you've forgot, let me remind you that there are needed two people to make a baby."

"You are not the one who has to hide and caring it within your body!"

"I will excuse you for those words. You've been locked inside a house for three months now… First, in your own house and now you are stuck in my apartment. And your condition shifts your emotions."

Angélique nodded and sighed.

"I apologize…" she asked "You're right… This loneliness, this captivity is driving me insane. My only blissful moments are my mornings and my nights, when I'm with you. If only you allow me to go to the barricades…"

"We've already talk about that!" Enjolras declared, interrupting her "You shall stay here until I return."

"And if you don't return?" Angélique asked, with her voice trembling.

"Don't you worry, my love. I will return. Paris in on our side… As soon as we call, the People will come to us and join the barricades."

"Have you thought about the possibility…"

"What?" Enjolras sighed in impatience, while getting dressed.

"The People might not join you in the barricades." Angélique remarked "What if they are afraid? What if they run to their houses instead?"

"Stop with the bad omens! We can't think about that… We must face our enemies with the belief in our victory. And the People will join us… We've made the necessary arrangements. The People are ready and waiting for our call."

"If you say so, I will believe it." although, she wasn't persuaded.

"I need you to believe in me." Enjolras asked, fully dressed.

"I believe in you." Angélique guaranteed "I believe in the same ideals as you. I believe in liberty, in fraternity and equality. I believe it with all my heart and soul. But…"

"But?" Enjolras knelt down in front of her.

"You might not survive it."

"I cannot give you the guarantee of my safety." he said, caressing her face "They need me to lead them to victory. I'm nothing but a puppet of the revolution. My live doesn't matter anything."

"It matters to me." Angélique whispered.

"This red fabric is for _Madame_ Louison… She will sew a flag with it!" he noticed, touching the red cloak "Why are you wrapped in it?"

Angélique unrolled the red fabric form her naked body and hand it over to Enjolras.

"Remember me, when you raise this flag up in the skies."

"It smells of you…" Enjolras caressed the material within his finger and smelt it.

She smiled.

"I will wear it until my last breathe."

"I hope your last breath won't be today." she wished "Nor tomorrow, nor the day after…"

"I don't know what tomorrow brings, my love." Enjolras said. "But you'll always be within my heart."

"And you within mine." Angélique smiled, caressing his hand.

Enjolras embraced her and kissed her lips with passion, feeling every corner of her mouth, while his hand caressed the naked skin of her back. She whispered against his ear, lost into his arms.

"I must go…" Enjolras said.

"I don't want you to go."

"But I must."

Enjolras kissed her lips once again and then placed a kiss upon her pregnant belly, caressing the skin with his hands. He stood upon his feet and held the red fabric in his left hand.

"They are waiting for me at Café Musain." he said "I should have spent the night there…"

"You came home so late, last night..." Angélique said. "I thought you wouldn't come."

"I came home because of you." Enjolras answered "I couldn't stand spend this night away from you. I had to feel you in my arms one last time before the barricades to rise."

Enjolras drop the red fabric and went towards her: he kissed her, embraced her, and moaning against her mouth, his hands travelling around her naked body.

"Make love to me, again…" Angélique whispered into his hear "It's not yet daytime…"

"I must go… I want to stay… But I must go."

"It's still early…" she said, caressing his legs, feeling his muscles underneath his trousers. "The skies are dark..."

"I must go…"

But his words fade away; Angélique unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down, feeling his erection with her hands. Enjolras bended over and entered her; Angélique craved her nails in his back, moaning against his mouth, while wrapping her legs around his waist. His blue eyes were staring deep into hers. They made love staring into each other eyes, even when they kissed; their eyes remained opened, like they were penetrating each other souls.

* * *

The night filled the skies of Paris; Enjolras wasn't home yet. Angélique spent her day lying on the bed, thinking about him and crying, terrified with the menace of his death. During the day, she thought about leaving the house and joining the Friends of the ABC on the streets, but she knew how angry Enjolras would be, so she restrained herself from doing so.

But, at this hour, Angélique couldn't restrain herself any longer: she was worried and terrified. Outside was raining, so she waited a bit longer. Despite her pregnancy, she took a dark and heavy overcoat and dressed it. When the rain stopped, she went downstairs and opened the door. The pavement was wet and the streets were almost empty, the people were walking into their houses instead.

"_Mademoiselle_, go back inside!" an old man said in a rush "These streets are not safe! The National Guard is fighting the rebels!"

"They've abandoned them..." Angélique whispered, ignoring the old man and looking around.

The people of Paris weren't ruining to join the Friends of the ABC fighting against the National Guard; they were running into their houses, to hide away. Angélique ran to the Café Musain, taking the shortcuts and narrow streets, because she knew that the National Guard wouldn't be there.

* * *

When she arrived to the Cross Street of Café Musain, Angélique hide behind a stone pillar and saw the barricades, rustically made with furniture. The pavement was filled with blood and dead bodies of National Guards. She looked around, looking for the Friends of the ABC: she saw a tearful and desolated Courfeyrac transporting Gavroche in his arms to the inside of the Café. The little boy was dead. Angélique felt a cold sensation embedding into her chest, like a sharp knife. Then, she saw Enjolras: his blonde hair was dirty and his face and clothes were filled with dry blood and dust, in his right hand he was holding a gun. Angélique looked around, searching for the National Guard; the coast was clear and she walked towards the barricades.

"Oi, everyone! Someone's coming!" Joly screamed to the other students, while holding a gun against the figure that was walking towards the barricade.

"Don't shoot, Joly! It's me!" Angélique shouted.

Her face was illuminated by the lights and Joly dropped his gun. Enjolras recognized her voice, and, immediately, felt a mix of anger with terror in his chest.

"I handle this." Enjolras said, rolling his eyes, to the other students.

An enraged Enjolras left the barricade and walked towards her: his face was severe.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Enjolras shouted in anger "I've demand you to stay at home! Are you mad? How did you passed by the National Guard alive? They could have killed you!"

"I know these streets well." Angélique answered, ignoring his rage "Did you think I would stay home while you're here waiting to die?"

"Angélique…" he whispered, trying to remain calm "Now you can't go back… It's too dangerous… Oh God… Why did you come here? Couldn't you obey me just once?"

"I've told you before that I'm not one of your school boys who you can command."

"You could have died." Enjolras said with seriousness. "Just like these young men you see upon these cobbles."

"I'm not afraid to die." Angélique declared "I can't live a life where you're not."

She tried to embrace him and to kiss him, but Enjolras walked away, holding her wrists, gently.

"Not here…" he whispered, looking around, to the young men who were transporting theirs dead friends to the inside of the Café.

"Even now, between these death men, you refuse to let them know about us…" Angélique nodded and sighed in disappointment.

"These young men see me as an austere person." Enjolras said "I can't show them I have weaknesses. I have to find you a safe place… You can't stay here on the streets with us."

"I've told you I'm not afraid to die." she recalled "I'm not leaving you."

"But you will. You must. Look around you… Me, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Prouvaire, Joly, Feuilly, Marius and Grantaire… We are the only survivors… Poor Gavroche, he was killed by the National Guard. He was just a little boy and they showed no mercy. And they will show no mercy on you as well. I must hide you away…"

Enjolras looked around and saw the women hiding inside of the Café, but he knew what it would not be safe to hide Angélique there.

"Enjolras…" Angélique caressed his shoulder.

"I've killed men tonight, Angélique." he turned and stared into her eyes. "I've already seen my end… But I'll not see yours."

"Enjolras!" Courfeyrac called and then looked at Angélique in alarm "What are you doing here, dear?"

Angélique looked down and did not answered, she hold her overcoat, trying to hide her pregnancy.

"Angélique wants to join us but I'm telling her it's too dangerous." Enjolras said.

"And it's true, my friend." Courfeyrac agreed "You shouldn't be here, my dear."

"I'm not afraid." she declared.

"Well, I admire your courage. Not all the women are willing to be here with us." Courfeyrac praised "It's true that everything is calm now but the National Guard will return. I shall take you to join the other women at the Café."

"Don't bother, Courfeyrac." Enjolras demanded "I will find her a safer place. Go back to the others and rest."

"You need to rest as well, Enjolras."

"Don't worry about me." Enjolras said.

Courfeyrac looked at Angélique with compassion and walked away, joining Combeferre and Joly.

"You are a very good liar." Angélique said in scorn.

"I'm a liar? I've said the truth." Enjolras answered. "Or is it a lie that you want to join us and I'm telling you its too dangerous?"

"I will not join those women in the Café." Angélique said "Why are they hiding? Shouldn't they be helping you?"

"Those women are _lorettes_ and _grisettes_. They never hold a gun in their hands!"

"And you have?" Angélique remarked in disdain "You are only schoolboys, Enjolras. And the People abandoned you… Just like I've said… Why throw your lives away?"

"We will make them pay by every man they've killed! These young men did not die in vain. We may die tonight but others will take our place tomorrow."

"If I can't convince you otherwise… What about our child?"

"Don't do this to me…" Enjolras asked, sighing in anxiety.

"Will he grow up without a father?" Angélique continued.

"If I don't take you to somewhere safe, he'll not even get to be born!" Enjolras said, grabbing her hand.

"Where are you taking me?"

Enjolras didn't answer; he led her to one street transversal to the Cross Street of Café Musain. The blonde young man stopped in front of an old and poor house and looked around, looking for guards or members of the Friends of the ABC. They were alone, so he knocked, strongly, on the wooden door.

"Please, open the door! Please! Open the door for a pregnant woman!"

"No! I'm not going to leave you here on the streets alone!..." Angélique said with her eyes full of tears.

"You must. And I'm not alone… I'm with my fellows." Enjolras said with tenderness "_Merde_*****! Someone opens this door, already! This woman is pregnant!"

"I will not let you die like my father, Enjolras…" Angélique cried, embracing him "My place is on the revolution, fighting beside you…"

A woman's voice echoed from inside of the building:

"_Monsieur Enjolras, I'm so sorry… But I cannot let you in…"_

"Shelter this woman, please!" Enjolras screamed "I beg you, for God above! She's pregnant! I don't care for dying but I won't allow her to die tonight."

"Don't do this to me… I can't live without you…" Angélique kissed him "Our unborn child will not live without you."

The door was slowly opened and a middle-age woman peered into the street and saw Angélique and Enjolras in front of her; observing the dry blood on his clothes and in his skin. She looked at Angélique.

"Come inside, _mademoiselle_." the woman said "Quickly! The streets are not safe…"

"No… Please, my love…" Angélique cried "Don't leave me… Don't go away to die!"

"Go now, my love…" Enjolras whispered, kissing her lips and, for the first time in his life, he cried "And if I don't survive this night… Remember this… You've turned this man, who only lived in hate, into a man who only lives in love…"

"Take my love… For love is everlasting…" Angélique whispered into his ear, with her voice trembling.

"I will close this door if the _mademoiselle_ doesn't come in immediately!" the women warned.

Enjolras kissed Angélique intensely, strongly, with such passion… with his hands holding her face. He kissed her with wrath, for the last time. When they separate, Enjolras pushed Angélique inside the house, giving her to the middle-age woman.

"No! Enjolras! Please… No! Don't go!" she begged

The middle-age women, helped by one younger brunette woman, held Angélique by her arms, pushing her to the inside of the house. Angélique saw Enjolras staring at her, with flaming passion in his eyes, and in his lips a word was whispered: "_I love you_." And the door was closed.

"_Enjolras! Where have you been? The National Guard has return!"_ Angélique heard Combeferre's voice.

Angélique fell in the floor, with tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry. You're safe, now." the woman said with a smile.

"Come, hold my arm, I will help you to get up." the young woman asked, kneeling down beside her. "What's your name, _mademoiselle_? I'm Heloise. This is my mother, Millicent."

Heloise helped Angélique rising from the floor, but she remained silent and with her eyes staring the door.

"She's frighten, the poor girl…" Millicent sighed with pity "Who are you, _mademoiselle_? Are you related with _Monsieur_ Enjolras?"

"He will die…" Angélique whispered in a tearful tone.

"Don't you worry, _mademoiselle."_ Heloise said, caressing her shoulder.

"Why didn't you help them? Why did you stay in your houses?" Angélique said with fury.

"_Mademoiselle_… Look at us…" Millicent declared "I'm only a poor worker with my children. My husband has passed away many years ago… I wouldn't sacrifice my children for some uncertain revolution."

"Those young men out there have died for your welfare!" Angélique said "They were fighting for a better tomorrow for everyone in this country. You should have helped them…"

"Hush, now, _mademoiselle_." Heloise said with compassion, embracing the tearful Angélique in her arms "In your condition, you can't be this nervous. Tell us your name."

"Angélique."

"Angélique…" Heloise smiled at her "How many months pregnant are you?"

"Five months." she answered.

"There are still four months ahead of you before the childbirth." Millicent said. "Does your husband knows about your affair with _Monsieur_ Enjolras? I've never heard of him with a woman…"

"I don't have a husband." Angélique declared, thinking about Enjolras.

"You live in sin with _Monsieur_ Enjolras, then…" Millicent censured, looking at her pregnant belly "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm trying to become an artist." Angélique answered.

Both women looked at her with a mix of confusion and disdain.

"Women can't be artists." Millicent said "It's immoral!"

Angélique rolled her eyes but she was so distress because of the menace of Enjolras's death that she didn't bother to reply.

"You seem to be rich…" Millicent said, observing her clothes.

"My family is wealthy, I'm not."

"Love makes people do stupid decisions." Millicent declared "When this circus ends, go back home to your family."

"I'll never do that." Angélique said "They will take my child away."

"You will starve on the streets, _mademoiselle_…" Heloise said with concern. "Without money in your pocket and with a child in your arms… Only God knows what will become of you…"

The noise of discharging firearms and men screaming come from the outside.

"I must go…" Angélique whispered, walking towards the door.

"_Mademoiselle_, the streets are not safe!" Heloise stopped her, grabbing her arm. "Do you wish to die? Because that is what's going to happen if you go outside!"

"Enjolras will die… I must help him!"

"There's nothing you can do, my dear." Millicent sighed, nodding her head "You can't stop an entire army of guards, alone. Those schoolboys have chosen their destinies."

"Come with me, Angélique." Heloise said with a smile "I will take to my room, for you to rest."

"I don't want to rest…"

Heloise held Angélique in her arms and guided the brunette to her room.

"There's nothing else for you to do tonight." Millicent recalled. "May God protect those young men outside…"

* * *

**Translation (French – English):**

– The definition for _Lorettes_ and _Grisettes_ is at Chapter One.

*****_**Merde –**_ meaning "_shit_" or "_fuck_".

* * *

**Once again, sorry for keeping you wait! I've been really busy these past days!**

**I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued… Two more chapters to the final! Will I change the story or not? Suspense!**

**Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews! You've been too kind! And for following, of course! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	15. On My Own

**Chapter Fifteen**

_**ON MY OWN**_

* * *

**June 6th, 1832**

**Paris, France**

* * *

Angélique spent the entire night crying, lying on Heloise's bed. The young woman and her mother left her alone, to give her privacy. It was early morning, the skies begun to clear when the noise of cannons and discharging firearms filled the air and Angélique held her pregnant belly, crying in grief. She, eventually, fell asleep, tired and in distress. When she woke up, everything was silence; there were no more war sounds or men screaming. Her vision was blurring and she saw a male figure on the top of her. As her vision, gradually, returned to normal, she saw Enjolras smiling at her: there was no blood on his clothes or in his skin, his blonde hair seemed more golden that ever, his eyes where intensely bluer and his skin seems to glow.

"My love…" Angélique smiled "You've come back for me… I was so afraid I would never see you again…"

"_I've come back to say goodbye."_ he declared with a smile, caressing her face.

"Goodbye? I do not understand…" she said, with confusion.

"_I'm at peace, now_." Enjolras informed "_Do not weep for me, my love. I didn't felt any pain…"_

Angélique stared at him with confusion.

"What are you talking about? You're here with me…"

"_Yes… And I will always be with you... Within your heart." _Enjolras replied, placing his hand above her left breast.

"Of course you'll always be in my heart, you silly young man!" Angélique laughed.

"_And you'll always be on mine… He will see each other again… But many years are ahead of you before that… Raise our child in love, I know you will." _

"You are talking in riddles…" Angélique was confused "I don't understand…"

"_Mademoiselle_, who are you speaking to?" Heloise asked, leaned against the door, looking around.

Angélique looked at her, confused. When she looked above, Enjolras had disappeared. The brunette sat on the bed, looking around, with a lost expression upon her face. Her head was hurting because she spent the entire night crying.

"Enjolras?..." she called, looking around "Where did you go, my love?"

"_Mademoiselle_?" Heloise asked in concern. "Are you feeling alright? You were talking on your own…"

"I was talking to… a ghost...?" Angélique whispered, with her eyes staring the floor "He's dead… He's dead and his spirit came to me to say goodbye…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Angélique denied with tears in her eyes "I must go…"

"_Mademoiselle_… You are in shock." Heloise said "You mustn't go outside. Remain here and rest… You really need to rest."

"What's going on here?" Millicent asked, still wearing her night clothes.

"She's not alright, mother." Heloise said to Millicent "She thinks she's saw the boy's spirit."

"Dear God…" Millicent sighed in pity.

Angélique raised from the bed; in her face was a desperate expression. She passed by the two women and head towards the exit door, opening it.

"_Mademoiselle_, don't!" Heloise ran after her "Stop! It's not safe outside!"

But Angélique didn't listen and closed the door.

"_Mademoiselle!_" she heard the woman screaming in the inside of the house.

The streets were full with blood and National Guards' dead bodies; she looked around and observed the women cleaning the floor. There were men caring dead bodies to a wooden cart. The air smelt of blood and gunpowder.

"They were only schoolboys… They've never held a gun… Oh, children of the barricades who didn't last the night…" one blonde young woman said, while scrubbed the cobbles.

"Such a waste… They were so handsome…" other young woman remarked "Someone used to kiss them and comfort them when they cried… Now, no one can wake them. How sad…"

"Enough talk! Go fetch some water, Agate." one brunette middle-age woman demanded.

Agate was the younger one, a girl in her late teens, with blonde hair and small of stature; she rise from the floor and walked away with a wooden bucket on her hands.

"Did you come to help, girl?" the brunette middle-age woman asked to a bewildered Angélique.

"What?..." Angélique woke up from her frozen state and stared at her.

"I'm Bernadette." she introduced herself "What's your name, girl?"

"Angélique."

"Well, Angélique…" she spelled her name with scorn "You can go fetch some water and start scrubbing the cobbles. We have to clean this sea of blood. And we have to get it clean by tonight! Come on, now! Hurry up! I don't have all day!"

"I apologize… But I'm not here to clean floors…"

"Oh! You're not here to clean floors, han?" Bernadette mocked, interrupting her "You do have a fancy dress! What's a rich girl's business in this dirt? Go away, _mademoiselle_. You will find only death in here."

"I know this girl, Bernadette!" Louison said as she walked towards them, accompanied by Christelle "She was a close friend with the young men."

"_Madame_ Louison!" Angélique sighed in relief "Are you alright?"

"Oh, don't you worry about me, _mademoiselle_! I'm a tough woman." Louison smiled "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here, sweetie…"

"I've arrived during the night." Angélique answered "But Enjolras hide me away in one of these houses…"

"Go home, _mademoiselle_." Louison asked, caressing her hand, with compassion "You'll only find pain and misery in here."

"Where is he?" Angélique asked, with tears forming in her eyes.

Louison didn't answer and nodded her head with pity.

"Please…" Angélique begged in a tearful voice "He's dead, isn't he?"

Louison sighed with sadness.

"_Mademoiselle_, go home…"

"I don't have a home to return to!" Angélique cried-out "He was my home. Please, take me to him… I want to see him… Dead or alive… I need to see him."

"Which of the boys is she talking about?" Bernadette whispered to Louison.

"She's talking about_ Monsieur_ Enjolras." the woman answered "The blonde one."

"The handsome one? The one who resembled to an angel? I didn't know he had a woman…"

"No one knew." Louison said.

Angélique turned, hiding her face with her hands, and the women saw her silhouette and her pregnant belly under the gown.

"But… You are pregnant, _mademoiselle_!" Louison remarked in shock.

"I am…" Angélique sighed with her face covered in tears. "Please, _Madame_ Louison… I need to see him."

Louison sighed and nodded her head.

"I begged of you…" Angélique said with despair "Take me to him."

"Why do you want to see him?" Louison asked. "Why put yourself through so much pain?"

"I love him!" Angélique cried-out "I love him with all my existence and I need to see him before they take him away…"

"Alright then, _mademoiselle_… I will take you to him." Louison agreed "Come with me."

Louison escort Angélique beyond the barricade; she took her to the inside of the Café and opened the back door that lead to the street. There they were: all the dead students, lying on the floor, forming a line of corpses. Angélique felt her body trembling and a cold sensation invading her as her eyes searched for Enjolras.

Then, she saw it: Enjolras's dead body lying on the floor. His face was pale and his lips were purple, there were eight bullet wounds on his chest, and his shirt was filled with dry blood and dust. Tears start flowing from Angélique's eyes and she sobbed with pain.

"_Mademoiselle_?..." Louison looked at her with concern, caressing her shoulder.

"Can you leave me by myself, _Madame_ Louison?"

"Are you sure, _mademoiselle_?" the woman asked "You shouldn't be alone at this moment…"

"Please…" Angélique begged without taking her eyes from Enjolras.

Louison sighed and walked away; leaving her alone with the dead bodies. Angélique come closer to Enjolras and stared at him; his face seemed peaceful, despite of the bullet wounds on his chest. Beside him, there was the red flag and she recalled their last conversation in his apartment.

"You said you weren't my father…" Angélique sighed "But here you are… Lying on the floor like him…"

Angélique kneel down beside Enjolras's dead body and caressed his golden curls.

"I can't promise that I won't weep for you… Because I will, my love…" she sobbed "I love you so much… Oh, God, why?..."

She broke down in tears, crying against his chest: her tears were mixing with his blood.

"I've said once I wouldn't allow a man to decide my future… And now my future is lost… I have no place to return to… You were my home, my love… Oh, I've tried to stop you but I couldn't… You didn't listen to me… Will others raise to take your place?..."

"Move, _mademoiselle_." a guard said with rudeness to Angélique "We have to remove these dead bodies."

"Please, allow me to bury them properly…" Angélique begged, looking around to the guards.

"These young men were traitors." one of the guards said "They have no right to a funeral."

"I begged of you!" she said, raising from the floor "They have families and people who love them… They were only schoolboys…"

"Your petition will serve you no good." the guard said and then turned to the other guards "Call the men. They can come and remove the bodies."

"Have you no heart?" Angélique asked with anger.

"Look, _mademoiselle_, I don't care about these dead boys here, okay?" the guard said with scorn "Make me and my fellows a favor and go home. Oi! Take these dead bodies to the cart."

Angélique took a deep breath: she had no home to return to. She walked away but her tears didn't stop as she turned her face and saw the National Guards carrying the bodies and throw them to the inside of the wooden cart.

"I never thought I would see a woman crying over Enjolras's dead body…" a National Guard said; he was with his back against the stone wall, while smoking a cigarette.

Angélique looked at him with confusion within her eyes.

"Me and Enjolras were kids together." he declared "We grew up in the same neighborhood."

"What?..." Angélique couldn't understand because she was in such distress.

"Well, he always had a lot of women attracted to him, but he never paid any attention to them." the guard continued "He was a good man… Despite of everything… I was only doing my duty… When I shot him… I couldn't help but thinking that I was killing someone who could easily be me…"

The brunette stared at the man: he had tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, _mademoiselle_…" he said with pity. "Why don't you say something?"

"I don't feel like talking, right now…" Angélique sighed "My whole life is ruined…"

"You are pregnant…" the guard noticed; dropping his cigarette and staring at her. "Enjolras is the father, isn't he?"

Angélique stared the floor and closed her eyes, biting her lower lip.

"Well, no need to confirm it…" the guard said "I can see by your physical reaction that I'm right… Enjolras is the father of your child."

"What do you want from me?" Angélique asked in anger "You've already killed him like your duty commanded… Isn't that enough for you?"

"Enough?" the guard laughed "_Mademoiselle_, I've killed him because my superiors gave me orders to do so… It was not something I've enjoyed doing!"

"You did your duty…" Angélique cried "Now, let me be…"

"Be careful with your words, _mademoiselle_…"

"Or what? Will you kill me? I would gladly receive death!"

"Don't push your luck." the guard warned her "Get out of here… Before some other guard founds out you are pregnant with Enjolras's child. And believe me, he won't let you get out of here alive."

"And why do you?"

"Like you've said… I did my duty and I've killed him. It was enough." the guard said "Now, go away and be careful."

Angélique walked away from the guards removing the bodies and cleaned her tears with the back of her hand. As she was crossing the inside of the Café she saw Marius Pontmercy coming downstairs; with a sling around his right arm and with a walking stick on the other. She recognized him from The Friends of the ABC meeting and tried to remember his name.

"_Marius…"_ she remembered.

"Marius!" Angélique ran after him, in shock "Oh, God! You're alive!"

Marius stared at her with confusion; he did not recognize Angélique – her face was not strange to him but he could not remember her name.

"Don't you remember me?"

A puzzled stared went through his face.

"I'm sorry… I do know you… But I don't identify from where…"

"I'm Angélique." she said "I used to go to the Friends of the ABC meetings… Enjolras introduced me to you."

"Oh! Yes, I remember! Grantaire used to speak about you all the time!" Marius declared with a light smile "What are you doing here?"

Angélique was tired of answering to that question.

"I apologize." Marius noticed the annoyed expression on her face "If you don't want to answer, you don't have to. I was just curious…"

"How did you survive?" Angélique asked.

"Someone took me away from the barricade."

"Who saved you?"

"I don't know…" Marius said with a frozen stare "I was unconscious… When I woke up this morning I was at Cosette's house. But I had to come here to see if the others…"

His voice trembled and small tears formed in his eyes. Angélique didn't know who Cosette is but she did not bother to ask; her mind didn't care about it.

"I went upstairs…" Marius continued and looked above to Café Musain "Everything is destroyed… There they've talked about tomorrow and tomorrow never came… Oh, my friends… They are all dead and gone…"

"I know…" Angélique cried-out with her body trembling.

"Marius!"

The birdie voice came from an ethereal blonde young woman, who was walking towards them. She was clearly wealthy; she was wearing a light blue gown and a bonnet with white flowers.

"You were taking so long I've started getting worried about you." the blonde young woman said.

"Angélique, this is Cosette, my fiancée." Marius introduced them.

"Delighted to meet you, _mademoiselle_." Cosette smiled in politeness.

Angélique nodded with a light smile.

"Papa is waiting for us in the carriage." Cosette informed, wrapping her arm around Marius's arm. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes…" Marius sighed "I was talking with Angélique about my fellows… She was a great friend of them…"

"I'm so sorry for your lost." Cosette said to Angélique. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"

"I'm afraid not." Angélique nodded, looking down.

"Do you need money?" Cosette asked, searching in her purse.

"Oh, please, _mademoiselle_… no!" Angélique denied "Don't bother about me…"

"But I insist!" Cosette smiled and hand over to her fifty francs.

"Oh, it's way too much!" Angélique tried to give her back the coins "I cannot accept it."

"Please do." Cosette said with kindness and lend her hand to Angélique.

Angélique was reluctant to accept Cosette's money, but she knew she would need it: she sighed and took the money, hiding it in her purse.

"Thank you." Angélique was grateful "You are very kind, _mademoiselle_."

"Oh… our lives are very humble and everything we have, we have to share." Cosette said "Papa has always said that to me."

"Come to our wedding, Angélique." Marius invited. "We don't know the date yet, but you can gave us your address and we'll send an invitation."

Angélique's eyes went serious and wet.

"You can send the invitation to Enjolras's address." she, finally, said.

Marius stared at her with confusion.

"Why would I send the invitation to Enjolras's house?" he asked with a confused smile.

"Because I used to live with him…"

"Who is Enjolras, my dear?" Cosette asked Marius.

"Enjolras was our leader." he answered "But he had no interest in women whatsoever..."

Angélique sighed.

"I was his mistress." she confessed. "Only Grantaire knew…"

Marius was puzzled.

"Is this true?" he asked "You were…? That's unbelievable… So… He gave me all that criticism for me being in love while he had a secret lover himself?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about…" Angélique declared.

"I'm sorry to interrupted… But, Marius, we have to go." Cosette said "Papa is waiting."

"Oh, yes, of course, my dear." Marius smiled at her.

Angélique stared the ground, trying not to think about Enjolras. But seeing this happy couple was rotting her inside.

"We shall go now, Angélique." Marius declared "I will send the invitation to Enjolras's address."

"Thank you." Angélique forced herself to smile "For everything."

"Take care." Marius wished.

"If you need something, anything, don't bother to ask." Cosette guaranteed with a smile. "Farewell."

"Goodbye…" Angélique said as they walked away.

* * *

**Grrrr… Sorry if I've kept you waiting for too long, again!**

**I hope you've enjoyed it and there will be one last chapter, the Epilogue, to see what's going to happen to Angélique. Well, I've killed Enjolras like Victor Hugo did, sorry.**

**Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews! You've been too kind! And for following, of course! It means a lot to me.**

**Thank you for the reading.**


	16. Bring Me Home

**Chapter Sixteen**

_**BRING ME HOME**_

* * *

Angélique returned to Enjolras's apartment. She fell upon the bed and cried, embracing his clothes and feeling his scent, for long nights. Sleeping alone was now unbearable to her; Angélique missed Enjolras's body next to her, this warmth, this scent and his hands caressing her neck. There were times Angélique thought she could sense his presence near her, but she knew those were only illusions from her head. The fact that she doesn't know where the National Guards buried the Friends of the ABC bodies is an agony: she wanted to visit them and bring flowers to their graves. She thought the bodies may have been thrown into the Seine*; therefore, she decided to walk, covered by a large dark cloak,every night near the river and look into its dark waters, hoping she would see their bodies floating.

One night, at the _Pont au Change_******, Angélique looked deep into the dark waters while a cold breeze flew against her face and made her hair dancing. It was a summer night, but the wind was cold. The month was August; two months without Enjolras. Her pregnant belly was larger and no coat could hide it away, now. By looking into the waters of the Seine, Angélique took a deep breath: what if…? Her life was ruined anyway… Why waiting for the worst to come? The fifty francs Cosette gave her were almost expended; soon she'll have no money to buy food. Everything seemed to be lost and she couldn't afford a child.

"_Why not?..." _Angélique whispered to herself _"Why shouldn't I end my suffering right now?"_

The waters of the Seine seemed a peaceful grave, above the starry skies of Paris and the silence of the night. She knew tough times would come after the childbirth. How would she raise her child? She never worked in her entire time, consequently, she had no working experience; she doesn't know how to sew or other practical occupations… No one would give her a job. Enjolras is dead… So there is nothing more for her in this world.

"_No…_" Angélique thought to herself "_I once said a man would not decide my faith… I'm strong. I know I will survive any adversity life puts ahead of me… I once vowed by all the stars in heavens that my child would not grow up away from me… And so it will be._"

Abandoning her terrible thoughts, Angélique left the bridge and walked back to Enjolras's apartment.

* * *

At the end of September, Enjolras's landlord expelled Angélique from the apartment, due to non-payment of two months' rent in arrears, therefore, she spend one month living on the streets, near the Seine River. She had thoughts about suicide on several occasions but never fulfilled them. Until, in the first days of October, _Madame_ Loire has found her, wandering on the streets, and brought back to her old home, at _rue de Verneuil_.

* * *

**October 6th, 1832**

**Paris, France**

* * *

"Breathe, _mademoiselle_…" _Madame_ Loire said.

Angélique chest was waving strongly as her mouth was hide-open, screaming in pain. She was in her old room, back with _Madame_ Loire and Doctor Beaufort for the childbirth. Doctor Beaufort was holding her legs, waiting for the baby to be born, while _Madame_ Loire was encouraging her and two nuns were fetching hot water and dry textiles for the blood.

"I can't…" Angélique screamed in pain. "I can't do it!"

"Hold on, _mademoiselle_!" Madame Loire said, caressing her forehead. "Use your strength… Hold on only a few more minutes!"

"You've been saying that for hours now, _Madame_ Loire!..." she sighed and screamed in pain.

"The time is near, don't you worry, _mademoiselle_!" the old woman said "You're strong, hold on!"

Angélique continued screaming and moaning in pain; while the cold sweat fells from her forehead and her cheeks were deeply red.

"The baby is about to be born." Doctor Beaufort "I can see his head."

"Be strong now, _mademoiselle_!" _Madame_ Loire encourage, holding her hand.

Angélique screamed; while her head lifted from the pillow and she closed her eyes, her face transfigured in pain and in redness. Then, her long and full of hurt scream mixed with a first cry of a baby.

"It's a girl." Doctor Beaufort informed, holding the girl in his arms, soiling his chemise with blood.

Angélique's head rest upon the pillow and brunette young woman smiled and gasp with tiredness.

"Allow me to hold her in my arms." she asked, opening her arms.

The doctor passed the baby to one of the nuns; the woman went to bathing her in the hot water, while the baby girl cried. The other nun cleaned her with one textile and wrapped her in another dry and clean fabric. The nun went towards Angélique, with a light smile, and gave her the baby, which the brunette young woman held in her arms.

"She's so beautiful… And small…" Angélique whispered in delight, caressing the baby. "I shall call her Marianne… The Liberty of France… Marianne Enjolras."

Angélique caressed the baby girl's head while looking at her with a smile; the baby opened her eyes and they were golden with rays of blue. The features of her face were the same as Enjolras and a small among of blonde hair bloomed at the top of her small head.

"You need to rest now, _mademoiselle_." _Madame_ Loire said. "Give the baby to these _Mesdames_.*******"

"No…" Angélique nodded her head "I want her to be near me."

"Understand, _mademoiselle_." Madame Loire insisted "You really have to rest. God knows how worried we were about you! You were disappeared for five months. You've broken your grandfather's heart with your missing… But I have good news for you, mademoiselle. The _Monsieur_ is here. He arrived yesterday."

"My grandfather is here?" Angélique asked, holding the baby close to her chest.

"Yes." _Madame_ Loire smiled "Oh! He will be so joyful to see you, _mademoiselle_! Now, give the baby to us."

"Where are you going to take her?" Angélique asked with concern, looking to the women faces.

_Madame_ Loire stared at her with an unknown and concerned expression.

"I think you already know the answer to that question, _mademoiselle_."

"No! You will not take her and lock her in a Convent!" Angélique said in despair, holding the baby closer to her chest "I will never allow it!"

Apollinaire Beaulincourt-Marle entered the room and looked around, contemplating his granddaughter's chamber: he was a old man, in his sixties, with white hair and moustache, dressed like the noble man he is; wearing a black top hat and an, clearly, expensive black and white suit, in this left hand he holds a black wooden walking stick with a golden top.

"My dear Angélique!" The old man said with smile that soon faded away "Oh, the bastard has been born…"

"She's not a bastard, she's my legit daughter!" Angélique said with anger.

"You've always been stubborn, my grandchild…" Apollinaire sighed and nodded his head "But this is not the proper time for your whims. Give the baby to the _Mesdames_ and they will take her to the Convent, where she'll receive a proper education."

"No." Angélique declared with firmness.

"Do you think _Monsieur_ Benoît-Campion will accept your bastard child with a dead traitor?"

"I don't care about what _Monsieur_ Benoît-Campion accepts or not. I won't marry him."

"This topic is not something for you to accept or decline! Your marriage with him is an order, not a proposal." Apollinaire informed with strictness "Do you want to shame our family's name? Is that what you want?"

"I want to be with my child." Angélique answered "And if that's the price I will have to pay… I shall renounce your surname. I'll never marry a man I don't even know… And the only man I would ever marry is dead."

Apollinaire stared at her; the old man couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Madame_ Loire blessed herself, terrified.

"Have mercy on the _mademoiselle_, please, _Monsieur_!" _Madame_ Loire said "She's in distress because of the childbirth. She doesn't know what's she's saying! Forgive her…"

"I do know what I'm saying, _Madame_ Loire." Angélique guaranteed "And I meant every word of it."

"Do you love that traitor more than you love your own family?" Apollinaire asked with anger.

"Yes, I do." Angélique nodded "I love him more than I ever loved anyone before…"

"You're a disgrace to our family!" Apollinaire shouted "How shameful! First your artistic manners… That I encouraged because I've always believed you're talented, although everyone knows it's an improper occupation for a woman. Then, your problems with the Law! Do you have any idea how many letters I had to wrote to the Guards of Paris because of you and your public speeches about Women's Rights? If you weren't my granddaughter they would have arrested you! Then, your foolish love _affair_ with some revolutionary schoolboy! And, as if that were not enough, you got pregnant! How did you dishonor yourself in such a way? Losing your purity to some gallant scoundrel! You've ruined yourself and now you want to do the same with my family! I shall not allow it! I won't allow it!"

Marianne started to cry, loudly, and Angélique started cradling the child, hopeful that she would calm down.

"Enjolras is nothing of that! He was a kind and dutiful man who..."

"I don't care what kind of man that conspirator was! He was executed by the National Guard because he was a traitor to the King! And all the men like him should be executed as well! Standing that the poor are equal to us!? How shameful! The lower class is nothing more than a bouquet of thieves, beggars and prostitutes********!" Apollinaire shouted "And you will obey to my orders, _mademoiselle_!"

"No, I will not! I renounce your surname! I refuse to be a part of this family! Nobility? Don't make me laugh! There is no nobility on your character… grandfather!" Angélique shouted with furiousness.

"Very well, then." Apollinaire said, nodding his head "Than consider yourself disinherited! You'll no longer receive any more money of me. You are no longer a noble woman. Consider yourself part of the lower class and you can starve on the streets with that bastard child! Get out of here!"

"_Monsieur_… Allow the mademoiselle to rest." _Madame_ Loire interfered "The child has just been born... She can't be thrown into the streets!"

"I don't care for her anymore." Apollinaire declared "She's no longer my granddaughter. I want her out of my house!"

"_Monsieur_…" _Madame_ Loire begged.

"Why are you defending her, _Madame_ Loire?" the old man asked with ferocity "She's nothing more than the whore of a dead traitor!"

"Don't use such terms on our presence, _Monsieur_!" _Madame_ Loire and the nuns blessed themselves "We are Christian women!"

"I apologize, _Mesdames_." Apollinaire nodded "This… little woman… gets me out of my nerves."

"I beg of you to let the _mademoiselle_…"

"Don't call this prostitute "_mademoiselle_", _Madame_ Loire!" Apollinaire threatened.

"_Monsieur_, allow her to spend, at least, this night with us. She and the baby will die if the _Monsieur_ throws them in the streets, right now. Winter's at the door, _Monsieur_! Soon, it will start to snow."

"I don't mind living on the streets…" Angélique declared "I've spend one month on the streets and I'm still alive."

"You didn't have a newborn in your arms back then…" _Madame_ Loire recalled "You'll starve and, probably, die from hypothermia."

"Well, let her die!" Apollinaire said with disdain "I shall return to Marseille. My business here is complete. My poor daughter will have her heart broken when she hears the news… You are just like your father, Angélique! The same type, the same blood as that traitor... Doctor Beaufort, you can leave with me. Your services are no longer required. _Madame_ Loire, I shall count on you to take this creature to where she belongs. Farewell."

By saying these words, Apollinaire Beaulincourt-Marle left the room, accompanied by Doctor Beaufort. One of the nuns escorted the _Messieurs_ downstairs. When their departure was a certainty, Madame Loire sat on the bed, next to Angélique.

"Oh, _mademoiselle_…" she sighed in despair "Why didn't you obey to your grandfather?"

"He's not my grandfather anymore, _Madame_ Loire." Angélique answered "You've heard him."

"If only you had agreed to marry _Monsieur_ Benoît-Campion…"

"I would never do such thing… Marry a man when my heart belongs to another."

"That schoolboy is dead, _mademoiselle_…" Madame Loire recalled with pity.

"Please, _Madame_ Loire… I know… I don't need you to remind me." Angélique interrupted.

The baby girl started to cry and not even the cradling made her stop.

"Hush now, Marianne…"

"She must be hungry." _Madame_ Loire informed "You have to breastfeed her."

And so Angélique did.

"You need to rest." _Madame_ Loire said "The life that's ahead of you will be a nightmare, _mademoiselle_... If only you weren't so stubborn…"

"I don't need your pity…" Angélique declared. "After all you're the one who reported me to my grandfather."

"_Mademoiselle_, I've only did it for your welfare." _Madame_ Loire defended herself "I've never thought it would come to this."

"It's too late for regrets now…" Angélique said looking to the little Marianne.

"I shall let you rest, now." _Madame_ Loire said and left the room.

Angélique slept deeper than ever before on those long three months before, due to the tiredness of the childbirth. Marianne slept within her arms, holding close to her mother, like, the baby herself, knew that she could be taken away. In that night, Angélique dreamt of Enjolras and his happiness about their little daughter: the dream was so real that she could feel his lips upon her forehead and her lips and his hands caressing her neck and her shoulders.

* * *

The next morning, Angélique was thrown into the streets, like Apollinaire demanded. _Madame_ Loire offered her a large cloak, made of a warm and strong material, which would give her and the baby safety from the cold of the Winter. The old woman was crying, in grief, because of Angélique's departure and calamity.

"Here." _Madame_ Loire gave Angélique a bag "I've put some money and food on there… You have bread, milk, water, some salty meat… The money may be enough for a room. And a sharp knife! The streets of Paris are dangerous…"

"You are disobeying to _Monsieur_ Beaulincourt-Marle, _Madame_ Loire." Angélique recalled.

"I'm an old woman and a Christian." she declared "The _Monsieur_ may be my patron but I don't always agree with him."

"If you need anything, _mademoiselle_… Come to our Convent at _Rue de Picpus_." one of the nuns said. "The church always helps the misfortune ones."

"Thank you." Angélique nodded "Thank you both… Well, I believe this is a goodbye."

_Madame_ Loire nodded and cleaned her tears.

"May God protect you, _mademoiselle_!" she wished "I'll pray for you every day until the end of my life."

Angélique smiled and started walking to the streets, holding the baby Marianne with her arms. The weather was getting colder. She wandered the streets, wandering to her unknown faith.

* * *

**Translation (French – English) and Historical Facts:**

_*** **_**Seine **– (or in French _La Seine_) is the river that crosses Paris and was a popular site for suicides and the disposal of bodies of murder victims.

*** **_**Pont au Change – **_There is no translation for the name, but "_Pont_" is "_Bridge"_ and "_Change_" is "_Change_". It is a bridge over the Seine River, in Paris, and connects the Palace of Justice to the Right Bank. In the novel _Les Misérables_, Inspector Javert comes to this bridge and throws himself into the Seine, committing suicide.

_*****Mesdames**_** –** meaning "_Ladies_". It is the plural form for "_Madame_".

********_**Lower class – **_meaning the "_Poor class_", was also known as the "_Dangerous class_" and during the XIX century caused great controversy, turmoil and change in France. The XIX century France was still a peasant nation and the majority of the Bourgeoisie and Nobility looked down upon and despised the poor because of social stereotypes: that they were lazy, immoral and sinful people, who were usually vagabonds, beggars, criminals and prostitutes. However, they had such occupations because of their destitute situation. The children received the worst treatment because of these stereotypes and the poor status of their parents, and many were either abandoned and became wards of the state, or remained in unstable home environments, where they were prone to child abuse and prostitution by their parents.

* * *

**Okay, so I had to divide the final part of the story in three chapters because, other way, this chapter would be too extensive. So there will be a seventeen chapter and the Epilogue. **

**Gosh, I've read all the new reviews! You have been so kind to me. Thank you so much; those are some really awesome reviews! I'm flattered, really! I don't have enough words to describe my gratitude. **

**Thank you for the reading.**


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